


Different Paths

by leiasfate



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Mythology/Religion, Daxam, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Krypton, Kryptonian Mon-El, Mentions of alcohol, Mentions of drugs, Past Abuse, Princess Kara, Survivor Guilt, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-05-15 04:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14783522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiasfate/pseuds/leiasfate
Summary: Kara Gand, the Crown Princess of Daxam, had her whole life chosen for her. There was nothing she could do to change it.Mon-El, member of the noble and prestigious House of El, had everything he wanted in life, he was happy.Unbeknownst to them, the universe had other plans. Their lives would change completely.It was written in the stars that they were soulmates.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t remember much from season one, so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies there might be in here.

Mon-El had never known what it was like to long for something badly, and not having it.

 

On Krypton, his parents had given him everything he wanted. The best money could buy. Of course, everything was possible for the prestigious House of El.

His father, Zor-El, had always treated him with love and affection, and taught Mon-El all he could about life and science. His mother, Alura, loved her son with all of her heart, for he was the center of her universe. She was the best mother he could’ve ever asked for. There was also his uncle Jor-El, and his aunt Lara, who loved him as if he was their own son.

 

Mon-El loved his family. He lived the happiest life, the one people wished for across the galaxies.

 

Then Kal-El was born, and Mon-El felt like at his short age, his life had already been fulfilled. Holding that little boy in his arms made him feel a joy he had never experienced before. The little baby had an immense place on his heart.

 

But his life turned upside down when his family told him what would happen. They had delayed it for as long as they could, but it was imminent. Krypton was going to explode, and there was nothing they could do about it.

 

Mon-El had screamed with all the air he had on his young lungs, crying uncontrollably. His parents and uncle had tried to calm him down, but he fled to his room, and locked himself up. He couldn’t believe it. Everything he knew, everything he had was going to die. It was a lot to take in for a thirteen year old. But as he laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, he realized something. His little cousin was so young. They couldn’t let him die. They had to do something.

 

So he went back out, and his mother held him, as they explained their plan. They would send Kal-El away to another planet, light years away from theirs. A planet with a yellow sun, which meant it would give him powers, but they didn’t know what those powers would be. Mon-El was relieved, to say the least. The true shocker came when they told him that they would send him away too. His mom looked at him with tears on her eyes, telling him that she would never let anything bad happen to him. They would send him to the same planet as Kal-El, so that he could protect his baby cousin, and so they would have each other. His relief was replaced by a million tons of weight on his shoulders, but he knew that there was no other way. It would happen.

 

The next few days went by in a blur. Mon-El had spent as much time with his parents as he could, but they were also busy preparing for Krypton’s destruction. And there wasn’t enough time. In the blink of an eye, the pod was in front of him, as his parents led him to it, trying to be strong. His mother gave him her necklace, promising him that she would be there, on his dreams. Mon-El held her tightly, not wanting to let go, but he had to. He felt like his soul had left his body when he jumped inside the pod. Then he flew away, and blackness engulfed him. He lost everything.

 

Mon-El woke up suddenly, the image of space as he left Krypton still clear on his mind. He looked up to find a man offering his hand to him. The man helped him up, and Mon-El noticed he wore his family’s coat of arms on his chest. His chest felt cold and void as the man told him that he was Kal-El, his cousin. He couldn’t believe it. Kal-El was a man, older than him. He had failed his family, he was never there to protect his baby cousin.

 

Everything happened so fast. Kal-El took him to a family, the Danvers. They were going to be his new parents. He wasn’t ready, but there was nothing he could do. He was still called Mon-El, at least. Mon-El Danvers. Odd name, but no one questioned it. The Danvers were warm and welcoming, but their daughter was not. Alex had hated him from the first time she saw him. And honestly, Mon-El hated her too. It took them a very long time to actually bond and love each other. But she became his sister, and he became her brother. They became inseparable.

 

The first few months with the Danvers were awful. Mon-El was too lost in grief and sadness to even function well. His actions were almost robotic. Eliza tried to help him in every way she could, but it wasn’t enough. He missed his home. Then they lost Jeremiah, and he knew it was his fault, despite Alex and Eliza’s attempts to convince him otherwise. He carried that guilt on his heart ever since.

 

It took him long to adapt, but he did. He graduated from high school and from college, despite all the adversities. He got himself a job at CatCo Worldwide Media, as Cat Grant’s assistant. At least it was something. He knew he wouldn’t have that job for all of his life.

 

Fast forward, Mon-El became a superhero when he saved Alex’s plane from crashing. Everyone wondered who the mysterious savior was. It was then that he decided he wanted to finally use his powers to help people. It was his calling. He needed to do it. He enlisted the help of his best friend, Winn Schott, who was going crazy over the news that he was an alien. Winn made him an amazing suit, red with blue lines. And a blue cape. Of course, the glyph of his house decorated his chest. It was awesome. He started rescuing people, helping in every way he could. Alex wasn’t too happy about it, and they fought a lot, but she finally accepted it. And he worked with her for the DEO.

 

Also, he thanked Rao that an interviewer had asked him what his name was before Cat, his boss, published an article on him with the name ‘Superboy’. No way. That was awful.

 

He said his name was Valor. When he was a kid, he read books about an ancient hero, Val-Or, who helped Dax-Am build the planet Daxam. He knew the reputation of that planet, but everything he had read about Val-Or was honorable and heroic, and that was what he wanted to be. Mon-El admired him.

 

And the name stuck. He was called Valor all around the news, much to Cat’s dismay. She made him throw away all of the copies with the name Superboy that had already been printed. Too much work, but it was worth it.

 

He had settled as a superhero when his aunt Astra appeared. He was shocked, to say the least, to see her alive. And the fact that she was going to destroy the planet broke his heart. But he had to fight her. He felt so lost when Astra told him what his mother did. His mother used him to imprison her.

 

Mon-El confronted Alura’s hologram, but she just kept answering that “not programmed to give that information” crap. So he exploded. He yelled. She left him alone, she sent him away, how could she do that? He almost destroyed the whole room on his rage. But Alex was there for him. Alex held him.

 

Then, he was put under the Black Mercy. He dreamed about the life he had always wanted, the life that was ripped away from him. But Alex woke him up. It wasn’t real. None of it was real.

 

Astra was killed. J’onn killed her. Mon-El felt so much pain. He loved his aunt, no matter what. And she was gone too. He had to say goodbye to her, too. Forever.

 

But it turned out that it wasn’t J’onn who killed her. It was Alex. They had lied to him. But despite being angry, he understood why Alex did it. He forgave her and J’onn. They were the only family he had left.

 

Mon-El had to find a way to defeat Non, quickly. Because Myriad was put into action. Kal-El couldn’t help him. He had to do it by himself.

 

He sent out a message of hope. Rao, it worked. It really worked. He was able to defeat Non. He saved the city. They were safe.

 

He succeeded. He was complete, with his new family surrounding him. Yet, he couldn’t help but feel that something was missing. He longed for something, and he didn’t know what.

 

But there was always a crisis. As Mon-El was celebrating on his apartment, with Alex, J’onn and Winn, something fell from the sky, and was about to fall down and crash. He immediately put on his Valor suit, flying towards the object, as J’onn followed.

 

It was a pod, that looked like the one he had used to leave Krypton. He had to stop it from crashing. And thank Rao he did.

 

“That pod. It’s identical to mine. It’s from Krypton.” He trotted towards it.

 

“Valor, be careful. You don’t know what’s in there.” J’onn warned.

 

He just opened it, and he found himself staring at the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

 

“Oh my God.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kara Gand had never understood what it was like to be in control of her own life.

 

As the Crown Princess of Daxam, everything was handed to her on a silver platter. There was nothing impossible for her. But she couldn’t choose to do what she wanted. She was told how to behave, what to wear, what to do, which places to visit. She was just a pawn on her mother’s game: Queen Rhea, who ruled her planet ruthlessly, and was never questioned. No one dared to stand up to her. Not even Kara. She did love Rhea, because, well, she was her mother. But she knew the queen was wrong in her ways. Kara was the princess, but it seemed like it was just for appearances. She didn’t have a say on anything that concerned the planet, or its laws. Gods, she wished she could change all of the horrible things in there. Like slavery. But she had no voice.

 

Her father, King Lar Gand, was much gentler than her mother. Sometimes she wondered if her mother even cared about her, but she never questioned her father’s affection. He did love her. Sure, he didn’t express it often, and sometimes he treated her just as badly as her mom did, but he loved her. In his own twisted way. Still, he supported her mother’s every choice, and that made Kara feel awful, because she loved two people who were pretty abusive.

 

Since she was 16, Kara had thrown herself into alcohol and drugs, to fill the void on her chest. It was never enough. She drank, and drank, and drank, until she felt numb. But she always had to face reality again. There was no escape.

 

Her only friend was Gar-Bel. He was her official guard, the one who accompanied her everywhere she went. She was the only person she trusted, and the only person who listened to her problems and complaints. She really cared for him. He also got her out of many dangerous situations when she was drunk or drugged.

 

Daxam was a planet that had pleasure and desire as its number one priority, so as its princess, Kara was expected to master the arts of pleasure. And she did, with the mandatory lessons. She was also expected to go out and party, so the queen sent her to clubs and bars, for Kara to uphold the reputation of the planet. It would‘ve been seen as an insult if she didn’t. She couldn’t say she didn’t enjoy it, but having the same routine day after day made her heart ache for something else. Something that would make her feel... more alive.

 

She brought sexual partners to her bed every night, looking to fill the void on her chest, and trying to find the thing that would make her feel alive. She never did. She was almost always pleased with her partners, and they were more than pleased with her: she knew every position, every possible touch known to Daxamites, that made her partners beg and want more. It was almost funny that, with the stories about her skills on bed, people lined up at the clubs Kara attended, hoping to be the one she took home. The fact that she was the most beautiful woman in the whole kingdom made people want her more. That beautiful face, cascading blonde hair and piercing blue eyes made everybody desperate for her attentions.

 

She also had sex with Gar-Bel sometimes, when she was bored and wanted to have some fun. It never meant anything, just a favor between friends. She thanked the Gods that he never caught feelings for her. Everyone knew that the princess’ solitude wouldn’t last forever. She was bound to marry someone chosen for her. It was required that she had to be latched before her ascension to the throne, when her parents relinquished their position (or died, since no one thought Rhea would willingly go away from power).

 

Kara couldn’t love anyone. And she never had.

 

In one of her nights out, she got a tattoo. A black heart, on her left hip. When the artist asked why, she didn’t know how to answer him. She was too drunk to even process what she was doing. Then she took him to bed as payment.

 

That was her constant circle. Alcohol, drugs, sex, repeat. The circle that would never end.

 

But her life got a 180 degree turn when she least expected it.

 

An earthquake woke her and the man beside her, while Gar-Bel entered the room, a panicked look on his face.

 

“Your Highness.”

 

“What’s going on?” Kara sat up, frowning.

 

“We need to evacuate immediately.” Gar’s voice was desperate.

 

“No.” Kara looked out the window, to see fire, and rocks falling from the sky. She was just wearing pants and a bra, so she grabbed the shirt that had been tossed to the floor. Rao, the world was ending.

 

“Let’s go. There’s no time.”

 

Kara’s heart raced, as the man on her bed begged to not be left behind.

 

“Leave him!” Gar-Bel literally pushed her out of the palace, as she kept looking back.

 

There was chaos outside, explosions and fire surrounding everything. Screams filled the atmosphere. There were dead people on the ground. And there was nothing she could do. Gar-Bel grabbed a weapon, and pushed her once again, to a Kryptonian pod, where someone was trying to flee.

 

Her eyes widened when Gar-Bel pointed his weapon at the man. “What’re you doing?!” No. No. She would never condone death.

 

“Please, I need to return to Krypton.”

 

“Your home is gone, and taking us with it. This is your punishment.” Gar-Bel shot the innocent man. He was dead.

 

“No!” Again, she couldn’t do anything. She was powerless.

 

“Forget him!”

 

She got into the pod, and pushed the button to close it. But she couldn’t go, because she was seeing Gar-Bel fighting.

 

“Go, Kara! Now!”

 

A knot formed on her throat, as she activated the pod and it took her away. She felt guilt and regret, for leaving her planet when it most needed her. She was a coward.

 

Those feelings were replaced by darkness and emptiness when she reached the Well of Stars, the place that would see her slumber for many years.


	2. Chapter 2

Mon-El looked at the woman laying on the bed, wondering who she was, and how she managed to get to Earth.

 

“She has to be from Krypton.” He paced around the room. “She must’ve escaped before the planet exploded, like Clark and I did.”

 

“She’s comatose.” Alex informed. “Her vitals are stable, breathing is normal. There’s nothing else we can really learn from her because...” the needle Alex was about to insert on her skin broke.

 

“That proves she’s from Krypton!”

 

“That only proves she’s not human. Which means she could be dangerous.” J’onn entered the room.

 

Mon-El felt a weird feeling on his chest, like he wanted to fight J’onn for saying she was dangerous. Something inside him said that he had to trust her.

 

He was submerged on his thoughts, as Alex requested J’onn to enlist Winn for help.

 

“We’ll figure it out, Mon-El. I promise.” Winn assured him.

 

He just nodded, arms crossed on his chest. He really wanted to know who the woman was.

 

“Are you going to the Venture launch today?” Alex asked him as they left the med bay.

 

“Ah, I don’t think so, maybe I’ll just stay at home.”

 

Alex’s eyebrows slightly shot up. “Okay.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I don’t know, I thought maybe you would take someone with you? A date?”

 

Mon-El could feel heat rising up to his neck. “What date? I don’t even have anyone to invite.”

 

Alex chuckled. “What about that girl, Eve?”

 

“Eve? The one I hired to replace me as Cat’s assistant?” He laughed. “Nope. I don’t like her like that.”

 

“Oh, my little brother.” Alex put her hand on his shoulder. “When are you going to let yourself have fun?”

 

Mon-El looked down, suddenly self conscious. He’d had “girlfriends” before, but none of his relationships lasted long. Not to mention when he injured a few girls while kissing them. Those unfortunate experiences made him steer clear from anything remotely close to a relationship, and it’d been years since he had actually dated someone.

 

“I don’t know. Maybe one day.” Something inside him made him turn his head to look at the unconscious girl.

 

“I’ve seen you look at her a few times. And yeah, she’s gorgeous. But be careful, brother. We don’t know her yet.”

 

He blushed. “What? I don’t look at her. I’m just... worried. What if she doesn’t wake up?”

 

Mon-El cared about the mysterious woman’s safety. It was because she seemed to be from Krypton, and he wanted to protect whatever was left of his planet. That was it.

 

“I think she will. We’ll figure it out.”

 

His phone buzzed with a text. “Oh, Miss Grant’s texting me. I’m not her assistant anymore. Well, I’ll see you later, sis.”

 

“Good luck.”

 

 

 

 

 

Mon-El smiled as the elevator opened, revealing his boss. “You wanted to see me, Miss Grant?”

 

Cat walked to her office, as he followed. “They offered me a seat in the Venture but I turned them down. What could I possibly have in common with a bunch of rich people in a rocket ship seeking existential answers to their meaningless lives? Speaking of which, what’s your answer?”

 

“W-What’s the question?”

 

“Your vocation, what is it?”

 

Oh, Rao. He was screwed.

 

“Oh, you mean what job do I want. Um, well... I don’t know, I haven’t really decided yet.” He started fidgeting with a pen.

 

“Why not?”

 

“Well, it’s been twelve hours since you asked me to choose a new position, and then most of those hours I was asleep.” He knew he was making a fool of himself.

 

“Really? I offer you the keys to the kingdom, and you just go to sleep?”

 

“It was nighttime.”

 

“You’re wasting your day. You have to take advantage of every single hour, Manuel. Sleeping is for slackers.”

 

Then Mon-El started rambling about the job test he did online, and about how he got marketing as a result. The look on Miss Grant’s face told him he was being a dork.

 

“What do you think?”

 

“I think that is the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard.”

 

“Oh, okay.” He really was screwed.

 

“You can’t internet search a calling, Manuel. A calling is something that is within you. Do you think that Valor is a hero because flying is one of his skills? No. He’s a hero because he has a need. To protect people, to help the planet. Look inward, and figure out what Mon-El Danvers needs to do with his life. I am granting you two more days, as in forty-eight hours, and whatever you do don’t come back with the results of a Rorschach test.”

 

She was right. Mon-El knew what he wanted and aspired to do as Valor, but as himself, he didn’t have a clue. He needed to figure out what his calling was.

 

“Miss Tessmacher!” He almost jumped out of his seat with Cat’s yell.

 

“Yes, Miss Grant?” The poor girl ran into the office.

 

“Does this dressing look drizzled on?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“No. No, this lettuce is drowning. It’s floating on a sea of ranch, like little Kate Winslets in Titanic. Get it out of my sight.”

 

Eve quickly took the salad, and left, not before throwing a wink at him.

 

“This is the best replacement for you you could come up with?”

 

He fought the urge to laugh, and adjusted his glasses. “Just give her a chance, please. She’s so smart, and sweet. She went to Yale.”

 

“So did George Bush.” He sighed, there was no point in arguing. “Now get out, and dig deep.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon-El sat on his couch eating pizza, and thinking. Alex had planted a seed on his mind, and it was growing fast. He did feel lonely sometimes. He knew he didn’t need a partner, that wasn’t a requirement in life. But he wanted one when he saw people in the streets, holding hands and kissing. He wanted to love someone, and to be loved back. He’d never loved anyone before. He wanted to experience that. Would he ever find someone? Or would he just be alone for the rest of his life?

 

He sighed, and turned on the tv to watch the Venture launch. But it was catastrophic. The ship was about to crash.

 

Mon-El suited up and immediately flew to the scene, holding the ship steady. He could hear the exclamations of “Valor!” inside it.

 

“Need a hand?” He turned around to see Superman. A grin formed on his face.

 

“Hey, cuz.”

 

“It’s good to see you.”

 

“This looks like a job for the both of us.”

 

“Absolutely.”

 

His cousin went to the other side to extinguish the fire, and then they both landed the ship safely.

 

Mon-El had adrenaline running through his veins, and he was immensely happy. He loved being around his cousin.

 

“That was awesome!” He wanted to jump like a kid. “I mean, that was terrible, but it was awesome. We’ve never saved anything together.”

 

Clark chuckled. “I know.”

 

“I’ve dreamt of this moment. The two of us, teaming up.” He held his fist out.

 

Clark laughed again, and bumped it. “Me too.”

 

A family in bicycles approached them.

 

“I usually say hi.”

 

“Me too.”

 

“Way to go, Valor.” The girl exclaimed.

 

“That’s Superman!”

 

“I used to change his diapers.” Mon-El ‘whispered’.

 

“No way!”

 

“Um, not exactly sure you have to tell them that.” His cousin blushed.

 

“No, I think I really do.”

 

“Okay.”

 

They went back to the DEO, where everyone lined up in awe to shake Superman’s hand. Mon-El had to contain his laughter when it was Winn’s turn to greet him, because he was totally freaking out. And then Clark greeted J’onn, in the most awkward and tense way Mon-El had ever seen. He had to intervene and tell J’onn that they were going to see the mystery guest.

 

“What’s with those two?” He asked Alex.

 

“Beats me.” She sighed. “Your cousin smells terrific.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “Enough.”

 

He went up to the med bay, where his cousin was.

 

“She landed on Earth last night, in a Kryptonian pod. We don’t know who she is.”

 

“Did you try using a Quantum scan to determine her age?”

 

“First thing we did. She’s 25.” The same age as him. What a coincidence.

 

“And you X-Ray visioned her for foreign objects, like a cybernetic data core?”

 

Mon-El smirked. “Of course I did. No data core.”

 

“So,” Winn entered the room, “my handy translator just finished decrypting the pod’s data log. Now, it seems sleeping beauty on her journey from Krypton passed through something called the Segara Beyal.”

 

“The Well of Stars!” They looked at him oddly. “My father took me there once. Time doesn’t pass there. So, that’s why she’s still so young.”

 

“Oh, speaking of age.” Winn jumped in. “Clark, you’re twelve years older than Mon-El, right? Because you do not look it.”

 

“Kryptonians age at a much slower rate here on Earth.”

 

More like, they didn’t age at all. Mon-El was sure that if he lived up to a hundred years he would still look the same. It was a privilege and a curse.

 

“You look fantastic.”

 

“When you’re finished we have something more important to talk about.” J’onn stated.

 

“What?”

 

“The Venture.”

 

 

Mon-El brought Clark with him to investigate, despite J’onn’s reluctance. He would find out what was going on later. But they needed to focus on the task. The whole scene with Miss Grant was hilarious. Mon-El had to stand in the background so she wouldn’t see his silent laughter. Then she took him away for a ‘tour’.

 

He just stood there, when Eve approached him.

 

“Hey, Mon-El!”

 

“Eve! Hi. How are things going with Miss Grant?”

 

She winced. “Well, it’s going. But let’s not talk about that. How are you?”

 

“I’m—“ His phone rang. “Sorry, Eve. I have to take this.” She smiled, nodding.

 

“Alex. What’s up?” What she said made his eyebrows shoot up. “Yeah, I think Clark knows a thing or two about that name.”

 

 

They went to question Lex’s sister, Lena, and in all honesty, Mon-El didn’t find anything wrong with her. She was honestly trying to get a second chance for the company, anda fresh beginning for herself. But he knew Clark was still suspicious.

 

“I know I’m not a reporter, but I kinda believed her.”

 

Clark’s phone rang before he could respond. “Hi, sweetie. Yes, I’m with Mon. Yes, I’m being careful.” Mon-El laughed. “I miss you too. I love you, bye.”

 

“I love that she worries about you.” He was happy that his cousin had someone who cared for him and loved him.

 

“Yeah, me too.”

 

“How do you do it all, Clark? You’re an amazing reporter, a great boyfriend, and Superman.” He sighed. “I mean, I love being Valor. That part of my life is clear. But the rest of it...”

 

“You mean, you don’t know which vocation to choose?”

 

“How’d you know that?”

 

“Super telepathy. It’s a power you’ll get someday.”

 

He punched Clark in the shoulder. “Don’t be an idiot.”

 

Clark chuckled. “Alex told me.”

 

“You know, for so long, I’ve kept my head down, and moved forward. Just settling with being Cat’s assistant. It was simple. But now I have all these options... any job I want. And I don’t know what to do, I’m stuck.”

 

His cousin smiled. “I’ve been where you are. You know, trying to figure out how to be Clark and Superman.”

 

“Yeah, but you made it look so easy.”

 

“Well, it wasn’t. It still isn’t. Look, all I know is that being Mon-El is just as important as being Valor.”

 

He just nodded. Clark’s advice actually helped lift his mood. Who would’ve thought, the little baby he had carried on his arms was giving him life lessons.

 

“That’s really nice.”

 

“Trust yourself, Mon-El. Follow your heart, it’ll show you the path to what you want.”

 

 

 

They saved Lena from being murdered, and at the ceremony to rename Luthor Corp they had to do it again. But then Lena asked why he wasn’t in the article Clark had written, and he said he wasn’t a reporter. It was then that Mon-El realized something that made his heart jump: he had the material to be a reporter. He could be a reporter.

 

He immediately flew/walked to CatCo, determination on his mind. He finally knew what he wanted to do with his life.

 

“I made my decision.” He stood in front of Cat’s desk, barely containing his emotions.

 

She looked surprised. “Forty-three minutes before the deadline. This better be good.”

 

“I wanna be a reporter. I can’t believe I didn’t see it before. Being a reporter is about connecting with people, it’s about finding hidden truth and sharing it with the world. It’s about service, and telling stories that need to be told in order to make the world a better, more comprehensible place. And it’s going to make me the best version of myself. This is it for me. This is my calling.”

 

Being a reporter was like carrying out Valor into his human life. He could connect with people by saving them, and also by sharing stories that could help them. It was perfect. His true calling was helping humanity in any way he could.

 

Cat tried to hide a smirk, and handed him an envelope. “Open it.”

 

He frowned. “Is this my resume?”

 

There it was, Mon-El Danvers typed at the top of the paper. It had the word ‘reporter’ scribbled in red.

 

“The moment you came in to interview as my assistant, I had an instinct about you. So I scribbled reporter on your resume, and I stuffed it right here in this drawer, and I hired you on the spot.”

 

He was shocked, to say the least. “You knew, even then?”

 

“Mm-hmm.”

 

“How?”

 

“Instincts. And I guess I saw a little bit of myself in you. Obviously, not your dorky male wardrobe, and I’ve probably cursed more in one day than you have in your entire lifetime, but you have integrity to right wrongs and to see justice done. You inspire me, Mon-El.” He grinned. “I can see the hero within you.”

 

No one had said that about him. He was overjoyed.

 

“Now get out, and make me proud.”

 

He sure was going to do that. He would prove Miss Grant that she had been right about him. He would make her, and his family, proud of what he would do.

 

“Thank you, Ms. Grant.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mon-El was shocked to hear the comatose woman was using energy to heal herself. He’d never done it, and he was sure Clark hadn’t either. Maybe she wasn’t Kryptonian. He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

 

“You’re exposing her to Kryptonite?” Clark was outraged. “She’s a survivor, not a prisoner.”

 

“It’s a precaution.” J’onn’s voice was tense. “We don’t know anything about her.”

 

The lights went off, which meant the girl was siphoning energy again.

 

It was then that he realized she was shirtless, with a sports bra on. Well, he’d seen her before, but he hadn’t been paying attention to that.

 

“Mon-El, when you... brought her here and we undressed her to put the monitors on her chest, we saw something on her back.” Alex was speaking carefully.

 

His heart dropped. By the tone of her voice, it wasn’t anything good. “What was it?”

 

“She has scars. Lots of them. Very long scars. As if she’d been whipped.”

 

“Oh, God.” The thought of it made him sick. “Have they healed? With the sun and the energy?”

 

“Some of them have. But she has too many. I don’t think they’re going away that easily, especially if they’re several years old.”

 

He couldn’t help but feel sad for her. It was clear that she hadn’t had the best life. And it made him think that she really wasn’t from Krypton. Abusing a child was punishable by death.

 

“You should test her levels again, now that she’s—“

 

“We’ve got this, Superman.”

 

Damn, that was so rude from J’onn. Mon-El felt angry. His cousin was only trying to help, and that’s what he got? No way.

 

“Sure you do.” Clark sighed, and turned to him. “I should go.”

 

Mon-El’s jaw tightened. “I know you two aren’t the best of friends, but you promised you’d be nice to him while he’s here.”

 

“Yeah, actually, he said he would try.”

 

“Shut up, Winn.” He turned to J’onn again. “He’s done nothing wrong. He only wants to help. I ask you, please, to at least be civil with my cousin.”

 

“If it means so much to you, we will get along.” J’onn walked towards the exit.

 

“Thank you.”

 

 

“Are we still on for siblings night?” Alex smirked. “Veep and Chinese?”

 

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled. “Do you know it’s Clark’s favorite show too?”

 

“Clark’s coming to siblings night?”

 

“Yeah, I mean he’s in town. And he’s family.” The only blood family he had left.

 

“The more the merrier.”

 

 

 

Mon-El’s heart shrank when Kal-El went to his apartment to tell him he was leaving. He had never spent a lot of time with his cousin, given that Kal was already an adult when he got to Earth. He was really looking forward to hanging out with him more, but he understood why he had to go. And they would have a last adventure together, at least.

 

But it all went to hell. Corben, or Metallo, literally had Kryptonite on his chest. Mon-El had never felt a pain like that before. It was like his bones had been crushed, and his chest was being oppressed by a million tons of weight. He couldn’t breathe.

 

Superman grabbed him, and in the blink of an eye, they were back at the DEO.

 

“Mon-El!” Alex rushed to him.

 

“I’m fine. Just a little dizzy.”

 

Clark advanced towards J’onn, threateningly. “You told me that only the DEO had access to Kryptonite. So how would you like to explain what just happened out there? A Kryptonite charged cyborg almost killed Mon-El, almost killed me. Start talking, J’onn!”

 

“A shipment went missing four months ago. We’ve done all we can to find it.”

 

“Four months ago?!” Mon-El couldn’t believeit. Valor was already in action at that time, and he wasn’t notified of that situation.

 

“It was stolen.” Alex intervened. “We thought it was an inside job but everyone in the transport came up clean.”

 

So she knew, too? He should’ve expected it. Alex was the director’s second in command.

 

“So you have a mole.” Clark was getting angrier by the second, and honestly, Mon-El was mad too.

 

“We don’t know that.” J’onn wasn’t really making sense.

 

“If you’d gotten rid of it when I told you to—“

 

“We would’ve been helpless when Non and Astra launched Myriad. Or have you forgotten it was a force even the Man of Steel couldn’t defeat?” And then he started making sense.

 

Clark stopped J’onn with a hand to the chest, and Mon-El knew everything was going to hell.

 

“We have given our lives protecting the people of Earth. If you cared about Mon-El, at all—“

 

It was a huge blow. J’onn irradiated rage, as he pushed Clark’s arm. “Watch what you say.”

 

“Or what?!”

 

He was about to intervene, when the screens lit up with a message.

 

“People of National City, the Earth has been stolen from us. And the enemy has come in the guise of heroes. They say they come in peace, to protect us from ourselves. But how long will it be before these gods decide to rule instead of serve? We are the antidote to their poison. We are the scientists who will show them what humans are capable of. Those who have sided with the invaders will not be spared. You cannot stop us. We are everywhere. We are CADMUS.”

 

They had to stop them, whoever they were. Those people were aiming to kill aliens. Valor wasn’t going to allow it. Thank Rao that J’onn would provide him and Superman with anti-kryptonite devices.

 

But he had to go to work, and it was awful. Snapper, his new boss, was a jerk. He was the rudest person Mon-El had ever met. And he un-hired him! What an absolute idiot.

 

Mon-El would prove himself to Snapper. There was no way he was going to let him win.

 

Then, they fought the Metallos. Superman on Metropolis, Valor on National City. His anti-kryptonite device broke, but Alex had his back, just as he knew J’onn had Superman’s. They were successful, and defeated them. Stronger together.

 

He wrote a five hundred words article on the attack, and went to Snapper. He stood firm, putting his foot on the ground. He needed to be taken seriously. And he was. Surprisingly, Snapper gave him his job back. Thank Rao.

 

He said goodbye to Clark, which was bittersweet for him. He really wished he could’ve spent more time with his cousin. The only thing that he had left to do that day was visit the girl.

 

Mon-El sat on the chair beside her bed, when he got a message from Clark.

 

“I miss you already.”

 

He smiled, and typed an answer. “I miss you too.”

 

He continued watching the girl slumber, knowing that she probably had suffered a lot on her home planet. She was really beautiful, and he couldn’t figure out why someone would want to hurt her so badly. When she woke up, he would make sure that she was safe.

 

“I know what it’s like to be a stranger on this planet. So when you wake up, I’ll be here for you. So you never know what it’s like to be alone.” Mon-El was making a promise. One that he wouldn’t break.

 

 

 

But in the blink of an eye, she woke up, and strangled him, eyes wide with fear.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Might’ve been boring, but a story without plot isn’t a story.
> 
> Kara finally woke up, so the fun is about to begin.
> 
> P.S.: Cat isn’t leaving here.


	3. Chapter 3

Kara opened her eyes and saw a man in front of her.

 

Where the hell was she? What were they doing to her?

 

The first thing she did was strangle him. She had to get out. She threw the man across the glass wall with a strength she didn’t have before, and ran. She had wires attached to her chest, so she got rid of them quickly. She had to run. She had to get away from whatever that place was.

 

She knocked out a few people along the way, with impressive strength. Then she found herself being pointed at with a huge weapon.

 

“Freeze!”

 

No way. She saw a balcony, so she ran to it, and jumped. She hadn’t known it was too high, she just jumped. And thankfully, she landed on her feet. So she kept running, but with no destination. She didn’t even know where she was.

 

Kara stopped running when she was several streets away from that place. Interestingly enough, she wasn’t even tired. She hid between two buildings, trying to process what had just happened. People walked by normally when she ran, apparently not surprised that a woman with no shirt was running. Or maybe she was moving too fast for them to see. Not that she cared about being shirtless, anyway. On Daxam, it was almost illegal to be ashamed of showing your body. People could go around shirtless there, and yet that didn’t mean they didn’t wear clothes.

 

She heard them speaking English. Thank Rao she had actually learned in those foreign languages classes. The fact that they spoke English meant that she was most likely on Earth, one of the planets with a yellow sun. That would explain why she didn’t feel tired. She knew a yellow sun would give her more energy, but didn’t know to what extent.

 

And what was that place where she woke up? It was certainly not a medical center. Unless medical centers had huge weaponry on Earth, which was unlikely. Maybe they knew she was the Crown Princess of Daxam, and were holding her hostage for ransom. Kara wanted to laugh at them. Her mother probably wouldn’t even move a finger to set her free.

 

But she didn’t want to stay on that primitive planet. It was universe-widely known that Earth was thousands of years behind on technology and human rights compared to other planets. She had to find a way to send a signal to Daxam, and hope that her mother would care to look for her.

 

Maybe Gar-Bel would, if he got the beacon. He would look for her.

 

She had to move fast. Before the people holding her hostage could find her.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Mon-El was still astonished by what went down at the DEO. The girl just... ran away, before anyone could do anything about it. And as much as he wanted to look for her, he had to go on with his life until Alex or Winn got a lead on her location.

 

J’onn told him he was meeting the president. He almost fainted right there. He admired the president, for the good things she was doing for aliens.

 

J’onn and Alex didn’t seem to agree, though. They didn’t think all aliens deserved citizenship. It made him want to fight them, but he held his tongue as much as he could.

 

Then at work, he got assigned an interview with Lena Luthor, instead of the one with the president. Snapper was really getting on his nerves. But he held his tongue again. He couldn’t go to Cat and complain like a little kid. Besides, there was only so much she could do. She wasn’t his boss anymore, it was Snapper. Unfortunately.

 

Meeting the president was amazing, as he’d imagined. But then it all went to hell when that weird attack happened. Alex was going to investigate, so Mon-El had to wait to get some action, again.

 

He went to interview Lena Luthor. His blood boiled when she explained she would sell a device to identify aliens. It wasn’t fair to their privacy. He wrote an angry article about how unfair and wrong Lena’s stance on aliens was, only to get rejected by Snapper. But how was Mon-El not supposed to take any sides, when he was an alien too? He wanted to protect them.

 

“Hey, how’s your article coming?” Winn asked as Mon-El typed furiously into the computer.

 

“Awful.”

 

“Oh. There’s no ‘k’ in diabolical.”

 

He let out a groan. “I don’t know how to stay emotionally neutral when I am writing something I’m very passionate about. I have passion, Winn. A lot of it.”

 

“Yeah. Having passion is great, for being a superhero.”

 

“But not for being a reporter?”

 

“Winn.” Alex came in, rushed. “Can you scan the city for any pan orbital transmissions heading out to space?”

 

“Pssh, yeah, I can.” Winn pressed a few buttons. “Whoa, whoa. Check it. Deep space signal. Loud and clear.”

 

“Where is it broadcasting from?” Mon-El frowned. It surely had to do with the girl.

 

“The Mount Pride observatory.”

 

“And that’s where we will find our alien Jane Doe.” Alex said.

 

“Wait, how’d you figure that out?”

 

Alex dismissed Winn with her hand. “It’s a long story.”

 

“She must be trying to contact Krypton.” Mon-El was sure of it. “She doesn’t know it’s gone.”

 

“Actually, nope. She did not dial Krypton.”

 

“Where’s the signal going to, then?”

 

“Well, according to these very cool DEO star charts, she beamed a signal directly at a planet called... Dac— Daxam.”

 

Mon-El’s eyes widened. Oh Rao, they were dealing with a criminal, most likely. Daxam was a planet of careless, selfish people who only thought about themselves. He had to stop the girl before she did something on Earth. Or maybe she was behind the attack on the president.

 

He flew away without saying a word to Winn and Alex, and was in the observatory in seconds. The girl, upon seeing him, attacked immediately.

 

“I don’t wanna hurt anyone.”

 

“Sure you don’t.” She’d just thrown him to the floor, and she said that? How ironic.

 

He knocked her to the floor with a punch. “Stay down, Daxamite.”

 

“You know where I’m from?” For some reason, she didn’t seem surprised.

 

“Yup. And you should’ve stayed there.”

 

They wrestled, but Mon-El, threw her into a satellite, and she fell unconscious.

 

He carried her to the DEO and put her in a cell, and then went up to talk to J’onn about it.

 

“So, our mystery alien is from Daxam?”

 

“I’ve never heard of Daxam.” Winn intervened.

 

“It’s a sister world to Krypton.” J’onn explained before Mon-El could reply. “Both capable of sustaining life, both orbiting the same sun.”

 

“You never mentioned it before.” Alex looked at her brother suspiciously.

 

He looked at the screen, where they could see the girl was just sitting in her cell, arms wrapped around her knees. “Do the Hatfields ever mention the McCoys?”

 

“I take it your planets didn’t get along.”

 

He sighed. “Hundreds of years ago, Krypton and Daxam fought a bloody war to a stalemate. Thousands of lives were lost on both sides because of a pointless war Daxam started.”

 

“What were they fighting about?” Winn asked.

 

“Krypton was a democracy. A world of explorers, philosophers, scientists, and Daxam was a monarchy. With kings and queens that ruled a population of hoodlums.” He rolled his eyes. “We had a saying on Krypton for Daxamites, ‘may tex kolar Daxam’.”

 

“And that means...”

 

“Nothing I can repeat in English.” There was no literal translation for it, and it was also a huge insult. But the Daxamites deserved it. For everything they’d done.

 

“So, if Daxamites are as bad as you apparently said they were, then it’s no wonder this girl’s trying to kill the president, right?”

 

“That still doesn’t explain why.” J’onn put his hand on his chin. “Mon-El, don’t you think you’re being a little judgmental? We don’t know this person at all.”

 

He scoffed. “Nothing good can come from that planet.”

 

“I’ll ask her about the president.” Alex was about to walk away.

 

“No. I’ll do it.”

 

The Daxamite had hell to pay.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Kara just looked at her hands, wondering how long it’d been since that insufferable man put her in the cell.

 

She’d been bested by him, unfortunately. At least she got to send the signal, all that was left was hope someone would look for her. The people holding her hostage knew she was from Daxam, but she acted surprised when the man told her. There was a slight chance they didn’t know she was the princess, and it was better that way. They wouldn’t get money from her planet if they didn’t know how much she was worth.

 

There were cameras on the cell, so she knew they were watching her. Rao, she just wanted to go home. Nothing else.

 

The man from before stepped in, furious, and it was the first time Kara really took the time to look at him. Without exaggeration, he was the most handsome man she’d ever seen. That red suit and blue cape looked gorgeous on him, highlighting his muscles.

 

If they were on a different situation, she definitely would’ve had sex with him.

 

“Better get used to that view. You’re gonna be in that cell for a long time.”

 

There was no use in arguing with him, she was going to stay inside that claustrophobic space anyway. It was better to stay quiet.

 

“Well, that’s quite the first impression you’ve made on Earth, Daxamite.” He continued. “Do you always introduce yourself by trying to kill heads of state?”

 

She just kept being silent.

 

“How did you find yourself in a Kryptonian pod? Do you have anything to say for yourself?” He paused to see if she was going to say something, and she didn’t. “Anything?”

 

When he rolled his eyes and started walking away, she decided to talk. She didn’t know what he was talking about when he said she tried to kill heads of state, but it was clear they thought she was a suspect.

 

And Kara was no killer.

 

“Do they have Zakkarian ale on this planet? Cause I could really use some Zakkarian ale.” He turned to her again, and she almost smirked. “It’s been my experience that most of life’s problems go away if bring Zakkarian ale to the table.”

 

Well, it was true. On most nights, the ale had been her sidekick, as she got drunk to forget the problems she had and the family name she never seemed to live up to.

 

“You’re not getting anything.” The handsome man was so annoyed. It was truly amusing.

 

“Is it because I didn’t say please?” She tried hard to contain her smirk. “Cause you know on some worlds please isn’t even, you know, that big of a thing. Is this not one of those worlds?”

 

“Not surprised you would make a joke out of this. Your entire race thinks of nothing but themselves.”

 

Oh. He’d pressed her buttons.

 

“You would know all about my race, wouldn’t you, Kryptonian?” She knew it when she’d finally looked at him. He was a quick to judge, high and mighty Kryptonian. “Judging by that self righteous glyph on your chest. Hey, so shouldn’t you already have all the answers?”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Well, I know how your people feel about us.” She got up from her seat. “High and mighty, enlightened Krypton. Looking down on us, lowly peasants, ever since you attacked us with no provocation.”

 

Oh, she knew all about the war. How Krypton had killed thousands of Daxamites without any hesitation. Even children. She would never forget the holograms she’d seen of it.

 

“We attacked you?! Is that—“ the Kryptonian stopped himself. “Why did you send a broadcast to Daxam?”

 

“It was a distress call.”

 

“Why were you sending a distress call?”

 

Was he stupid? Damn, and to think Kryptonians thought of themselves as intellectuals.

 

“Because I’m in distress! Okay? I’m not here by choice. I’m just letting my people know I’m alive.”

 

That was, if they even cared.

 

“Yeah, okay. So if you’re marooned on this planet, why are you trying to kill the president?”

 

“Sorry, what’s a... what’s a pres... presibent?”

 

Maybe that was the head of state he’d previously mentioned. But she hadn’t done anything. Her blood boiled at how he judged her, thinking she was some type of killer.

 

Before he could go at her again, she spoke. “Look, I didn’t come here to kill anyone.”

 

“Good, because you never will.”

 

She nodded, already tired of his prejudices. “Right, you’ve already made up your mind about me. So, it seems kind of pointless to keep talking to you. Bye-bye, Your Highness.”

 

It was ironic, given that she was the one who should’ve been addressed as such. When he turned around, she decided to bother him again.

 

“Oh, I could really use that Zakkarian ale, though. Just give a think on it.”

 

He finally left, and she was alone again. With nothing to do. She sat up straight again, because laying down made her scars itch.

 

There was nothing she could do. She would be in that cell until whenever they wanted to release her.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

 

Mon-El stomped out of the Daxamite’s cell, furious. He didn’t even know why he went in there. He couldn’t reason with such a self centered person.

 

“You didn’t tell her what happened to Daxam?” J’onn had been outside waiting for him.

 

“No, I didn’t.”

 

Because despite all the anger he felt, his heart broke a little when she said she wanted to let her people know she was alive. Her people were dead. There was no one waiting for her back home.

 

He felt sad. Seeing that girl trying to reach her planet reminded him of himself when he landed on Earth, trying to find out if someone else had survived the destruction. He was devasted when Kal-El finally convinced him that there were no other survivors from their planet.

 

Mon-El wouldn’t have wished that heartbreak and sorrow on anyone. So he had kept his mouth shut about Daxam’s demise, even though he knew that sooner or later he had to tell her.

 

When he was at the president’s act, he couldn’t help but feel happy, as he hovered above people. Aliens wouldn’t be oppressed anymore, it was a huge accomplishment. The president’s speech was truly amazing. But then fire appeared out of nowhere and he had to extinguish it before it reached the president.

 

He blew it out with his freeze breath.

 

The president looked up to him, relieved. “Valor. Thank you.”

 

“Madam President. You’re welcome.”

 

Before he could catch her, the woman who attacked disappeared. Alex was fine, at least.

 

He realized that he’d been wrong. The Daxamite hadn’t done anything, and he’d judged her too quickly. Guilt set itself on his heart.

 

“So, the attacker was not our Daxamite prisoner after all.” J’onn said, after they’d cleared out the zone.

 

“No.” He swallowed. “No. This is all my fault. And now Detective Sawyer is missing.”

 

He knew the detective meant a lot to Alex, even if his sister hadn’t even realized that herself. If something happened to her, he wouldn’t forgive himself.

 

“You can’t blame yourself.” Alex seemed to have read his thoughts. “We all missed it.”

 

“But if I hadn’t been so blinded by how I felt about Daxam, we could’ve been out there searching for the real assassin. But I let my guard down, and the president almost died as a result.”

 

His prejudice had set up a chain reaction. He’d set his mind into something that wasn’t right, and it led to terrible things happening.

 

J’onn showed them a picture of the assassin. “Do we have any ID on the attacker?”

 

“No.” Alex said. “But I recognized her.”

 

His eyebrows furrowed. “From where?”

 

His sister informed him of an alien bar, where she could get information on the attacker. They made a plan to capture her, that had taken much less time than he’d thought.

 

It was easy. Valor was able to defeat her in mere minutes.

 

After that, when they were at the DEO, Alex took Maggie to the med bay, mouthing a silent thank you to him.

 

Mon-El was left alone, thinking about how he could apologize to the Daxamite. Thinking about it with a cool head, he knew he’d been extremely harsh. And wrong. But the fact that she hadn’t harmed anyone didn’t mean she wasn’t still from a selfish, hedonist planet. Maybe she wasn’t like them, but he still had to be careful. He would start again with her, without any prejudices, so that he could see her for herself, and not for everyone else. She deserved the chance to prove herself.

 

He opened the door to her cell without saying a word, a stepped in.

 

She looked confused. “Uh, what’s going on? Thought I was a dangerous killer.”

 

“I don’t know you at all. And it was a mistake of me to misjudge you just because you’re from Daxam. You didn’t try to kill the president, and I apologize for assuming you did.”

 

She looked down for a moment, and Mon-El found himself thinking that she was beautiful. But that thought went as quickly as it came. He couldn’t think about that. No way.

 

“My name is Mon-El, I’m from Krypton.” He inhaled deeply. “And like you, I’m a refugee on this planet. Earth.”

 

He extended his hand to her, and she took it, a small smile forming on her face.

 

“My name is Kara.”

 

He nodded, smiling a little bit. Kara. The name suited her.

 

“So, uh, what now? Can you help me get in touch with my home world?”

 

Rao, he didn’t have the heart to tell her. But who else would? He was the only one who would understand her pain.

 

“I— uh—“ He didn’t even know how to begin. “You might want to sit down. There’s something I have to tell you.”

 

She did so, and waited for him to start talking.

 

“When Krypton was destroyed, the debris showered down onto Daxam.”

 

Kara looked at her hands, blinking rapidly. “Yeah, I know, that’s... that’s why I had to get out of there.”

 

He had to tell her the worst part. “Some of the larger masses struck Daxam’s moon, disrupting the gravitational force of the planet.”

 

“Wait, what are you... what are you saying?”

 

“Daxam is still there, but it was ravaged by solar storms. It’s a wasteland now. Your home... my home... they’re gone.”

 

He could literally see how her soul left her body. Kara was devastated. His heart dropped at the sight of the utter heartbreak on her face.

 

“Kara, I— I’m so sorry.”

 

She shut her eyes tightly. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. Can you, uh, can you leave me alone for a while? I need time to think.”

 

“Yes, yes. Sure. Just call me if you need anything.”

 

She nodded.

 

He went up, where the president thanked him, but all he could think about was Kara, and how she’d just lost her whole world in the blink of an eye. He knew what it was like, it had been hard for him too, at first. He got used to it, but to her, everything had just happened days ago. Everything was too clear in her mind.

 

Mon-El had promised that he’d be there for her, and that was what he would do. He would be there whenever she wanted to talk about what happened. So she would never know what it was like to be alone.

 

He just hoped that with his help, Kara wouldn’t fall into depression, like he had.

 

 

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

There was nothing Kara could do. She felt empty.  
  
They were dead. All of them. Millions of Daxamites, her people, perished with her planet. For her, it had happened just days ago, but it had been years. Thirty five years passed without her being aware of it. She’d been unconscious, not knowing about what happened.  
She thought about Gar-Bel. How he’d pushed her into the pod, when all she wanted to do was stay. But like everything else in her life, she had no choice. He’d chosen for her. And for what? He was dead, too.  
  
Her mother and father were dead. Even though they weren’t the best of parents, her heart still ached for them. They were her parents, after all. She loved them, despite their obvious disappointment on her, despite the scars on her back.  
  
And she’d left them all. Kara fled, while everyone else suffered and died. Instead of opposing Gar-Bel, she let herself be led by him. She didn’t do anything. She flew away, when she should’ve stayed and died with her people. Like a good ruler would have. Like a real princess would have. She was no real princess.  
  
She was weak.  
  
So when Kara found herself being tested to measure her strength, bench pressing whatever hundred pounds of weight, she told Mon-El and his friends that she was a servant in the palace. That the princess had saved her and stayed, instead of fleeing. She told them what she wished she’d done.  
Kara liked Mon-El. She thought he could be her friend. She didn’t want him to think she was a coward. He was a far better person than she could ever be, and she didn’t want to be rejected by him. She didn’t want to be alone.  
  
“So, that’s how that happened. The princess saved my life.” She finished the story, still lifting the weight.  
  
“You were a servant?” Alex, Mon-El’s sister, asked.  
  
“Yeah. For the great royal family of Daxam.”  
  
She laughed internally at herself. Nothing had ever been great about her family.  
  
“They were the worst.” Mon-El rolled his eyes. “And their daughter, the princess? She was awful. She was rumored to be the sorority girl of the universe.”  
  
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” She murmured.  
  
Damn. She didn’t even know her reputation was known on Krypton. She should’ve been aware, considering that even Kryptonian prudes had traveled to Daxam to enjoy the pleasure of her company. Not that she ever chose them.  
  
“Oh yeah, your planets didn’t get along so well, did they?” Winn asked.  
  
“No.” She and Mon-El responded in unison.  
  
“Hey, I know it’s a long shot, but did you get any response from Daxam?” Kara knew what had happened, and yet she still asked. She had to hope, at least a little bit.  
  
All of them looked at her sadly. “I’m sorry but, no.”  
  
She looked away from them, feeling a burn on her eyes. She couldn’t cry. She had to forget.  
  
“Uh, enough of those dreary thoughts, right?” She tried to joke. “So, what do you guys do for fun around here? Do you drink, dance? Oh hey, do they play garata here?”  
  
“What’s garata?”  
  
“It’s like soccer, but with dragons.” Mon-El answered. “I loved it. I even had a collectible stickers album.”  
  
Kara smiled. She loved garata, too. Maybe they could talk about that later.  
  
“No, not that.” Winn intervened. “We have playstations.”  
  
“Great. So when do we get out of here and do that... thing you just said?”  
  
She was going to go crazy if she stayed there. Those grey walls were making her sick.  
  
“Actually, you have to stay here, at the DEO.”  
  
“Until we can assess the full range of your powers, you will have to stay in this facility. For your own protection.” J’onn stated.  
  
Kara almost opened her mouth to protest, but when she looked at Mon-El’s apologetic, pleading eyes, her anger faltered.  
  
“Okay. I will do as you ask.”  
  
J’onn left, and so did Alex. She was left with Winn and Mon-El.  
  
“Uh, I have to... go bring those blocks for Kara. I’ll come back soon.” Winn left quickly.  
  
Then it was just her and Mon-El. Her heart fluttered, but it must’ve been because of the exercise she’d just been through.  
  
“Kara, I’m so sorry. I wish you could leave this place and explore outside. But J’onn’s right, you need to know how powerful you are, so that you can control your powers.”  
  
How could she be mad at him, when he was apologizing and looking at her like that? She smiled at him, and sighed.  
  
“It’s okay, Mon-El. I get it. I do hope that someday I can go out.”  
  
He smiled back. “You will. I promise.”  
  
“Good.”  
  
“I have to go now, but I’ll come back later, alright?”  
  
“Oh.” She really wanted to get to know him better, but she’d have to wait. “Well, I’ll see you around.”  
  
He flashed her another smile, and then left, his cape swirling behind him.  
  
Rao, she hated being alone and confined into that place. She truly understood why she couldn’t go out, but that didn’t mean she liked it. At least she wasn’t on that cell anymore.  
  
She wanted to get those tests done quickly, so that she could go to a bar, or something. Maybe even find someone to... share her night with.  
  
Winn came back with some blocks for her to destroy (obviously not carried by him) and she pounded her fist into them, breaking them instantly.  
  
“We’re going to need a bigger block.”  
  
“Yes! This is awe and some.”  
  
“No, no, it’s just awesome. You got to put those words together and you’ll be golden.”  
  
“Okay. Awesome.”  
  
Alex came in and they started to talk about some alien or whatever, she didn’t play attention. She walked away from them, thinking how many more tests they would run before letting her go out. On Daxam, she went out every night to a bar or casino, so the shift from that to not going out at all was hitting her hard.  
  
Oh, how she missed gambling. She never lost a game she participated in. Liar’s dice, blackjack, poker, baccarat, roulette. She also missed smoking, tasting the cigarette in her mouth. She’d have to ask if they had those on Earth.  
  
One thing she certainly didn’t miss was the drugs. Kara did drug herself, but only on particularly rough days with her mother. And funnily enough, her mother was the one who introduced her to drugs. Then she did it to stop herself from feeling anything. An escape. But it was in vain, because as soon as the effects died down, she felt everything. The drugs didn’t do her any good. Even though she always ended up going back to them.  
  
But that wasn’t going to happen anymore. She would never, ever touch a drug again. She promised herself that.  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


 

When Mon-El first landed on Earth, everything happened too fast. Clark told him his planet was dead, and he was still trying to wrap his head around it when he’d been dropped off at the Danvers’ house. Too fast. He knew Eliza had good intentions, but she’d pushed him into talking about his feelings, when he wasn’t ready. That had only made him shut himself off even more.

That was the reason why he hadn’t talked to Kara about Daxam. He knew she wasn’t ready. In fact, she was practically ignoring it. When she asked if they had any response from her planet, and got a negative answer, she changed the subject quickly. But he noticed the crack on her voice, and the utter brokenness in her eyes. And he couldn’t do anything, couldn’t push her too hard. It made his heart clench.  
  
He went to talk to his mother’s AI, in hopes to clear his head.  
  
“I got my first article published.”  
  
“I’m pleased for you, Mon-El.”  
  
He grinned. It wasn’t quite his mom, but hearing her say that still made him happy. “Thanks. I have new ideas for articles, but I don’t think my boss would actually approve or like them. Reporting is much harder than I thought.”  
  
“Remember to always believe in yourself, my son.”  
  
“Yeah. Thanks for the advice.”  
  
He heard the door opening, and someone coming in.  
  
“Wow. What is this place?”  
  
It was Kara. He’d thought it was Alex. He started feeling nervous, heat rising to his neck and face. “It’s... it’s private.”  
  
Kara’s eyes widened. “I didn’t... I’m so sorry.”  
  
“It’s okay. I thought you were testing your abilities with Winn.”  
  
“Winn said we could chillax for five. Whatever that means.”  
  
Mon-El had to suppress a chuckle. It was adorable, how she got confused with earthly customs. He had to tell Winn to not confuse her even further with his weird slang.  
  
“So who’s that woman?” Kara asked, truly curious.  
  
“It’s my mother. She’s not really her. But it’s an hologram of her with her thoughts and knowledge.”  
  
Recognition crossed her face. “Yeah. We had constructs like those on Daxam.”  
  
Suddenly, his mother’s hologram started talking. “Daxam. Sister world to Krypton. A race of bullies and hedonists, committed only to their own pleasure...”  
  
“Bye, mom!” How embarrassing. Kara had just found out that she lost her planet and she was hearing horrible things about it.  
  
“They are selfish—“ The hologram shut off.  
  
Mon-El didn’t even know where to hide from his embarrassment. “Sorry about that.”  
  
Kara chuckled. “No, it was an apt description. Especially the hedonist, committed to their own pleasure part.”  
  
Oh, wow. He wasn’t sure he had wanted to know that. He ignored it, and changed the subject.  
  
“I don’t know, sometimes I just come here to talk to her. Just to feel less—“  
  
“Alone.”  
  
He’d hurt her feelings again, probably. She had no one to talk to. She was by herself, alone. He really had to learn to have some tact.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Hey, Mon-El, I was wondering if maybe we could go out?” When his eyes widened, she rushed to explain. “I mean, the director said I would be protected and safe here, but if they release me into your custody, I would be safe. You’re the most powerful man in the world. Maybe you could teach me about men on Earth.”  
  
He understood that Kara was losing her mind over being trapped inside the DEO. But he couldn’t obliterate J’onn’s orders. It wasn’t his place to decide. Also, she had to understand their view, too. She couldn’t just follow her selfish desires.  
  
A feeling of dread set itself on his chest when she mentioned learning about men. Gross. It was none of his business to do that.  
  
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”  
  
The brightness of her eyes died down. “Why? Because you’re from Krypton and I’m from Daxam?”  
  
“No. It just... isn’t.” He felt awkward, heat rising to his neck. “I have to go.”  
  
He practically ran away from Kara, mind racing. He was angry. Daxamites really couldn’t stop their hedonist ways, could they?  
  
Kara  apparently wasn’t any different from the rest of her planet.  
  
But he had no time to dwell on that, because he got a message with a location from Alex, saying ‘SOS’. He flew there quickly, landing in what seemed to be a fight club. An alien fight club.  
One moment, he was looking at J’onn’s friend, and then he was being attacked by a huge alien, named Draaga. He tried fighting back, but to no avail. The alien just kept taking him down, and Mon-El got the air knocked out of his lungs with a single hit on his stomach. He was laying on the floor, unable to get up. Then Alex kneeled by his side.  
  
“Are you okay? Can you fly?”  
  
“Yeah, I am. Let’s go.”  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


Kara just wanted to roll her eyes and go to her dorms. She was tired of being tested. She’d been in that forsaken training room all day, punching things and lifting weight.  
  
“No heat vision, no x-ray vision...” Winn was finally finishing the tests, at least. She punched the metal once again. “But you’re strong.”  
  
“Ha. Maybe one day I’ll be stronger than Mon-El.”  
  
Winn just laughed. “Let’s see... no freeze breath, which is kind of a bummer, right? No flight either, but your leaping is fantastic. I’m talking about—“  
  
“Hey, Winn.” She interrupted him, wiping her face with a towel. “I’m going crazy in here. Maybe I could get some fresh air.”  
  
One of his eyebrows shot up. “You heard the boss, Kara. The DEO can’t let you out yet.”  
  
“Come on.” She gave him her best persuasive smile. “Maybe I could fly if we go outside.”  
  
“Nice try. I’m not falling for it. I’m new here, and trying to make a good impression.”  
  
“Ah, I’m also new here, and trying to make a good impression.”  
  
“Girl, no. I’m sorry. I can’t.”  
  
She decided to approach him on another way. No one had ever resisted her charms. It wouldn’t be the first time.  
  
“Hey, so if I decide to become a superhero like Mon-El, who makes my suit? Because Mon-El’s is just amazing. It looks magnificent.”  
  
Winn blushed and grinned. Jackpot.  
  
“Well, I made Mon-El’s suit. It’s great, right?”  
  
“Oh, absolutely. I want one as good as that. Maybe you could make one for me.”  
  
“Oh no. I see what you’re doing here. You think that if you appeal to my vanity, and let me make your suit, that I will let you out of the DEO.”  
  
Kara gave him an innocent look. “That hadn’t even crossed my mind.”  
  
“Uh-huh.”  
  
“Look, I never really had friends, and you’re really nice. We can go out, two new friends getting to know each other, running a couple of field tests, not getting in trouble. Think about it.”  
  
He whined a little. “Damn you, Kara of Daxam. I’m too weak.”  
  
She almost cheered. Even after several years of being unconscious, her charm was still intact.  
  
After Winn called a cat, or a cab, whatever he said, they were finally away from the DEO. For the first time since she woke up, Kara finally felt a little bit of joy. She looked around the city through the car’s window, admiring the tall buildings and busy streets. Nothing like Daxam, but it wasn’t too bad. They stopped at a bar, which had a “halloween” sign on it. She’d have to ask what that meant.  
  
When they got in, a huge smile formed on her face. The bar was busy, full of life and music. Just like she wanted. In a flash, she was in front of the bartender.  
  
The guy turned to her, smirking. She couldn’t help but notice that he was really cute. “What can I get you, beautiful?”  
  
She leaned on the counter. “Two of whatever you recommend.”  
  
“Right away.”  
  
He came back with two tall drinks, and she immediately recognized them. Beer, excellent.  
  
“Here you go, sweetheart.”  
  
“Thank you, handsome.” Kara winked.  
  
A little bit of red tinted the guy’s cheeks. “Hey, my shift is going to be over in a few minutes, maybe we can sit down and talk for a while?”  
  
“Yeah, sure. I’ll be around.”  
  
She went away with a grin on her face. Seriously, the day couldn’t get any better. Winn appeared in front of her, and she offered him a drink.  
  
“No, no, no! No, you said that we were gonna test your powers.”  
  
“And we will! But you brought us here, so why not enjoy the moment?”  
  
“Damn, I brought us here to eat. I didn’t know there was a party going on.”  
  
“Winn, for a Daxamite it is the height of insult to refuse a toast.” She handed him the glass again.  
  
“Well, I wouldn’t want to be culturally insensitive.” He took it from her hand. “One drink.”  
  
Needless to say, it wasn’t just one drink. She battled against Winn in several drinking contests, and the poor guy was so wasted that he actually won against her. The weird thing was that she wasn’t getting drunk. Sure, she knew how to hold her liquor, but she didn’t feel anything. It was as if she’d been drinking water.  
  
She looked over to the bar, and the bartender from before made a gesture to call her. Winn was playing darts with some people, so she left.  
  
“Hey there.”  
  
“Hey, I’m Mark.”  
  
“Nice to meet you, Mark. I’m Kara.”  
  
“Shall we sit?”  
  
“Of course.”  
  
They spent some time talking about his life, because there was no way she could talk about hers. But suddenly, the conversation turned into exactly what she wanted.  
  
“Well, let me tell you that you are quite beautiful, Kara.”  
  
“Thank you. You’re not so bad yourself.”  
  
“Oh, yeah?” He leaned in, his face inches away from hers.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
Mark pulled her into a kiss, to which she responded eagerly. Her hands went up to his neck, while her mouth opened to let his tongue in.  
  
That is, until someone grabbed her arm and pulled her away. “Okay, that’s it. Let’s go.”  
  
“Winn!”  
  
“We have to go, Kara. Now.” His voice was serious, so she straightened up immediately.  
  
“Okay. Fine.”  
  
Winn called another cab, while she held him up, because despite his seriousness earlier, he was completely wasted. When they got to the DEO, he didn’t step out of the car with her.  
  
“Where are you going?”  
  
“To my place.” He handed her a card with his name and picture on it. “This is my access card to the DEO. Just leap to the rooftop and open the door with it, and then go to your dorms. No one will see you.”  
  
“Alright. You sure you’ll be okay?”  
  
“Yeah, yeah. Now go.”  
  
Kara did as she was told, but when she laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling, for some reason, she felt more empty than she’d been before.  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Mon-El was just tired of everything. And so done. So, so completely done and frustrated with every aspect of his life.  
  
At work, Snapper was the most annoying jerk he had ever met in his entire life. It seemed that he would always hate whatever Mon-El did, despite not even trying to read or listen to what he was saying.  
As Valor, nothing was going smoothly either. He’d confronted Sinclair at night, and he let himself be dominated by her talking skills. It made his blood boil. He was not even close to shutting down the fighting club.  
  
“Rao, I knew I should’ve heat visioned that stupid champagne glass out of her hand.” He was at the DEO, venting to Alex about his frustrations. “Alex, what the hell do I do to stop aliens from letting themselves be exploited?”  
  
“By offering them something stronger than fear.” Alex looked to the side. “Winn—“  
  
“Nothing, I’m not hungover.” He had an icepack on his forehead, which meant he was totally hungover. “You’re the one being defensive.”  
  
“Agent Schott.” J’onn entered the room, making Winn straighten up a little.  
  
“Sir, yes, sir. Kara is doing great, by the way. She’s here in the DEO. She’s here. Did you know her heart is on the other side?”  
  
Mon-El frowned, something was definitely wrong. And he guessed that he wasn’t going to like it.  
  
“That’s fascinating. Care to tell me why I just saw on the security footage that Kara entered through the roof at 2 AM?”  
  
He felt anger rising up on him. “Winn, what’s going on?”  
  
“Winn took Kara out last night. By some miracle nobody’s dead, but we were lucky this time.” J’onn looked at Mon-El angrily. “You should’ve talked to her!”  
  
“Me?! I did talk to her! How is this my fault?”  
  
“Shh. Stop yelling.” Winn whined. “Listen, guys, Kara didn’t do anything. She doesn’t get drunk, just like Mon-El. All she did was drink and play darts.”  
  
He believed Winn, but then he glanced to his left. He tapped his foot on the floor. Which meant he was hiding something.  
  
“Anything else?”  
  
“What do you mean, Mon-El? There’s nothing else.”  
  
“You’re leaving something out.”  
  
“I’m serious. She didn’t do anything. But...”  
  
“But?”  
  
“She was making out with someone. There’s nothing wrong with that.”  
  
Mon-El felt his chest tighten. “No, you’re right. But I’ll talk to her. She can’t ignore J’onn’s orders.”  
  
He walked to her dorms, trying to figure out how to tell her that she could harm humans, even by kissing them. There was no easy way to tell her. When he figured out that he couldn’t be too affectionate with humans, he’d been devastated.  
  
He didn’t want her to feel the same way.  
  
As soon as he arrived, Kara turned to him and started apologizing. “I’m sorry. It wasn’t Winn’s fault. Please don’t be mad at him.”  
  
“Hey.” He stepped closer to her. “I’m not mad.”  
  
“You’re not?” She looked at him in disbelief. “Because the director didn’t have anything nice to say earlier.”  
  
Mon-El chuckled. “That’s because you disobeyed him.”  
  
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I promise I will do as I’m told from now on.”  
  
“Okay.” He smiled at her. Rao, he really didn’t want to make her feel bad.  
  
“Hey, I was going to ask you something. When I drank at the party I didn’t get drunk. Do you know why?”  
  
“Oh! That’s because of the yellow sun. Alcohol doesn’t affect you.”  
  
He didn’t have to tell her about the fact that she could hurt humans, right? It wasn’t like she would go to a bar anytime soon.  
  
“I heard you survived Draaga.”  
  
“Yeah. Barely.”  
  
“I once saw him fight on Warworld when I was, uh...” she trailed off, “serving the royal family. Draaga took a blade to the right leg, it hit a nerve cluster. He’s favored his left ever since.”  
  
“Woah.” He was impressed by the fact that she remembered that and wanted to help him. “Thank you, Kara. That’s very helpful.”  
  
Her grin blinded him. “I hope so.”  
  
“I have to go. I’ll see you later.”  
  
  


* * *

 

 

  
  
Kara had already walked around the DEO like a hundred times. She would never admit it to anyone, but she was nervous about Mon-El confronting Draaga. After all, that alien was too dangerous. She’d almost slipped up when she told him about Warworld. She had to be more careful if she wanted things to go well with him and his family. Because that was what she saw: Mon-El’s friends weren’t just friends, they were close to him, like family. How she longed for something like that. She’d never had anyone to care for her, except for Gar-Bel, and that was literally his job. She doubted someone would ever care about her deeply. Not after everything she’d done. And if no one cared for her, she couldn’t even ask for love.  
  
Since it was of no use walking around and waiting, she went back to the training room, to practice controlling her powers. After really thinking about it, she realized she didn’t even want the powers, they were of no use to her. Sure, they could come in handy if someone ever wronged her, but that was it. What else could she use them for?  
  
“Hey.”  
  
She looked up to see Mon-El walking down the stairs, and she found herself smiling. “Hey there.”  
  
“I took out Draaga. Thanks for the tip.”  
  
“It’s nothing. I know it’s hard for you to be nice with me, since I’m from Daxam and—“  
  
“No, I shouldn’t be rude. I’m sorry.” He looked into her eyes. “It’s not fair to judge you. I promise I won’t do that, from now on.”  
  
Wow, she didn’t know what to say. She would’ve never expected that. Mon-El just kept surprising her, in a good way.  
  
“Now, what do you think about your powers?” He asked. At least she could be honest about that.  
  
“I don’t know. They’re great, I guess. But I don’t think I have a use for them. It’s the same if I didn’t have them.”  
  
“I can teach you how to find the fun in them. That is, if you want me to.”  
  
Her cheeks flushed. More time with Mon-El? That wouldn’t hurt.  
  
“Yeah. How?”  
  
“I asked the DEO to release you into my custody.”  
  
“Really?” Her eyes widened. “Why?”  
  
“My real purpose on Earth was to protect my cousin. To teach him, keep him safe. When I arrived he was already a grown man, and I didn’t get to fulfill that purpose, as much as it pained me. And helping you will help me achieve that, in a way.”  
  
He suddenly looked sad, grief displaying on his face. Her heart sank at the sight. She had to do something to make him smile.  
  
“Who would’ve thought?” She smirked and stepped towards him. “A girl from Daxam and a boy from Krypton, working together.”  
  
He finally grinned. “Why, is it because you come from a planet of partiers?”  
  
“No, because you come from a planet of snobs.”  
  
His lips parted, trying to find something to say, but then he bursted into laughter, lightning up the whole room. She couldn’t help but dwell on the sound of his laugh.  
  
When the laugh died down, she focused back on his grey eyes. “I’m in your hands, Mon-El.”  
  
She didn’t even care if he would make her train harder, or wake up early, or whatever. She just wanted to keep seeing his big smile and hear his charming laugh. If helping her was great for him, she would let him help. Anything, as long as he was happy.  



	5. Chapter 5

“Kara!”  
  
The girl woke up with a jolt, surprised to see Mon-El standing in front of her bed, positively energetic.   
  
“I’m up! I’m up!”   
  
Needless to say, she just wanted to go back to sleep. Never in her life had she been woken up at whatever unholy early hour it was.   
  
“It’s your first day of work!”   
  
Kara sat up, rubbing her eyes. “A job? How do I have one already?”   
  
“Well, you’re gonna be my intern. I mean, it’s not common for new journalists to have one, but Ms. Grant said ‘it’s time you learned some leadership skills, Manuel’. So, now you’re hired.”   
  
Out of all of that, she only got one thing. “Oh, so you’ll be my boss?”   
  
He scratched his jaw. “Sorta.”   
  
A smirk formed on her face. “You could’ve told me you’re into that kind of thing sooner, Mon.”   
  
“Don’t—“ His cheeks turned red. “Don’t be ridiculous. Come on, we have to go.”   
  
Mon-El took her to his apartment, and she would never say it out loud, but she was happy he was showing her another part of his life. The only friend she had actually cared enough to show her how to become an earthling. It was nice.   
  
What she didn’t like were the ugly clothes she was trying on. Mon-El clearly didn’t know the first thing about women’s clothing, but she was glad he’d been willing to try. Just when she was about to give up, a black dress caught her eye under the pile she’d made.   
  
After she put it on, she walked out to show Mon-El. “What do you think?”   
  
His mouth opened with a gasp. “Wow, that’s perfect! Now you just need glasses!”   
  
“Why glasses?”   
  
“Like mine. They keep it so no one knows I’m Valor.”   
  
“I’m pretty sure no one’s gonna mistake me for Valor.” She smiled. “Also, that is a terrible disguise.”   
  
Mon-El put a hand on his chest. “Hey! They have worked so far!”   
  
“Then humans are more primitive than I thought.”   
  
He rolled his eyes. “Anyway. Maybe one day you’ll wanna help people the way I do, in which case these will come in handy.”   
  
Kara put on the glasses he handed her, not even wanting to discuss what he’d just said, and his smile got ten times bigger.   
  
“Nice! Now, here’s the social security Winn made for you. Soon, you’ll get your FICO score.”   
  
“I don’t know what any of those words mean.”   
  
“It’s okay, you’ll learn it all working with me.”   
  
Rao, he was so tall. She had to lift her head to look him in the eyes. “Thank you for helping me be more human.”   
  
“It’s my pleasure.”   
  
She got lost in his eyes for a while, until he cleared his throat.   
  
“Let’s go, Kara Matthews.” He opened the door to walk out.   
  
“Matthews?”   
  
“Yeah, that’ll be your last name. You like it?”   
  
“Sure. It has a nice ring to it.”   
  
  
  
  


* * *

 

 

 

 

Mon-El was nervous to take Kara to Catco, to say the least.  
  
What if she didn’t understand her job? What if, Rao forbid it, they ran into Cat and she started pestering Kara with questions? She couldn’t slip and say she was an alien. What if—?   
  
“Mon-El?” Her voice broke through his thoughts.   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Are we gonna... step into the ancient elevator?”   
  
“Oh, yes! Sorry about that.”   
  
He’d previously taken Kara to Noonan’s, so that she would have something to offer the staff on her first day of work. He wanted them to like her, but maybe that wouldn’t be a problem. She had an unique charm or whatever that made people be immediately captivated by her. Just on their way to Catco, Kara had already received more than twenty winks and smiles from men and women on the streets, and the barista gave her his number. It was unbelievable.   
  
“We’re bringing the coffee to give it to co-workers, so that you can make them your friends.”   
  
“Oh, bribery, got it. We had that on Daxam. I remember when—“   
  
“No, it’s not bribery. It’s just being nice.”   
  
“Okay, Mr. Righteous.”   
  
He ignored her comment. “You should definitely give Scott a coffee. He’s Snapper’s assistant, and nephew.”   
  
“Okay.” She approaches him, trademark grin in place. “Oh, hey. Here’s some coffee for you.”   
  
Scott’s eyes were blown wide, and a water bottle he was holding fell out of his hands. “H—Hey! Thank you. My name’s Scott.”   
  
“Pleasure to meet you, Scott. I’m Kara Matthews, Mon-El’s new intern.”   
  
He finally acknowledged him. “Oh. Good morning, Mon-El.”   
  
“Morning.”   
  
Scott turned to Kara again. “If you need anything, just let me know. I can give you a tour of the building, if you want.”   
  
She opened her mouth to respond, but Mon-El interrupted her, eyebrows furrowed. “I think we’ve got that covered. Come on, Kara.”   
  
God, he was getting tired of people throwing themselves at Kara. Didn’t they have anything better to do? And the worst part was that she loved that attention. It was annoying.   
  
As they walked away, he realized she was still looking behind her. “Kara!”   
  
“What?!”   
  
“You have to give Eve Tessmacher coffee, she’s Cat’s assistant.”   
  
“From what you’ve told me, I’m sure your big boss is a force to be reckoned with.”   
  
“Yes, she is.”   
  
Mon-El already knew Cat wasn’t in her office (thank Rao) so giving Eve coffee wouldn’t be a problem. When he approached her, with Kara following, Eve dropped her pen.   
  
“Mon-El!” She smiled brightly at him. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”   
  
“Hey, Eve! Just wanted to introduce you to Kara, she’s my new intern.”   
  
“Hi. Here’s for you.” Kara gave her the coffee, but Eve looked a little disappointed.   
  
“Oh. Thank you, Kara.”   
  
“Well, we’ll leave you to it, Eve.”   
  
“Wait, Mon-El!”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“I wanted to talk to you, you know, later?”   
  
“Sure!” He smiled at her. “Just look for me at lunchtime.”   
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

 

 

 

That Eve girl was clearly in love with Mon-El.  

  
Kara couldn’t believe he was oblivious to it, since she was literally fawning over him. It was annoying. But she wouldn’t be the one to tell him about it.   
  
“So what are we doing now?”   
  
“We’re going to my office. I don’t really use it, but since I have an intern now, I’ll be there. It’s certainly better than being on a desk near Snapper.”   
  
He had an office. That was cute. Valor, the superhero, had a reporting job where he used glasses and looked nerdy. And very adorable.

 

Wait, where had that come from?  


“Oh.” Her voice came out hoarse. “That’s nice.”  
  
Mon-El stopped in front of a door, and opened it. “Here we are.”   
  
His office only had a desk, a chair, and a sofa. It was clear that he didn’t spend time there. But she could still notice that it was his.   
  
“Now we have to sort these.” He got out a pile of papers from a drawer on his desk.   
  
There was no way she was doing that. “Great, we’ll just use our powers—“   
  
“No! We can’t use our powers to do our job!”   
  
She rolled her eyes, placing her hands on her hips. “You’re telling me you’ve never used your powers to do these menial tasks?”   
  
He scoffed. “No, never. Not once.”   
  
Kara wanted to laugh. “You know your left eyebrow moves up when you lie?”   
  
“I’m not— that doesn’t happen.”   
  
“It does. It just did.”   
  
“It didn’t.” Suddenly, he looked concentrated, as if he was hearing something. “I have to go! Do your job!”   
  
“Wait, what? Where are you going?” He was already gone when he finished the question.   
  
What the hell was she supposed to do? He said she couldn’t use her powers, but that giant pile of paper sure didn’t look fun. She’d never worked a day in her life, how was she supposed to learn how to work in just a few hours?   
  
A knock on the door startled her.   
  
“Uh— come in?”   
  
Scott, the guy who she’d given a coffee to, was there. She definitely noticed he was attractive.   
  
“Hi, Kara. How’s your first day going?”   
  
“Uh, I don’t know. A little bit difficult with these.” She pointed at the papers.   
  
His eyes widened. “That is a lot of work. And it’s just your first day.”   
  
Finally someone who understood. “I thought the same thing.”   
  
“What if I help you? And then I can give you that tour we talked about.”   
  
Scott wanted to please her, and who was she to say no? She was finally starting to see the appeal in having a job.   
  
“That would be nice.” She gave him her best smile. “Thank you.”   
  
He took the pile. “It’s nothing. I’ll tell you when I’m done.”   
  
“Nice.”   
  
And... she had nothing to do. She looked around the office, and noticed a box of some red tubes. They were candy, apparently. Trying them wouldn’t hurt. She opened the box and sat down on the sofa, waiting for Mon-El to come back.   
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  


 

Mon-El couldn’t believe his luck. The robbers just had to have alien weapons, didn’t they? He hated when he was subdued. Hated it with every fiber of his body. And then Cadmus had sent a message, so it was freaking obvious they had gotten the weapons from them. He hated that even more.

  
To add to his anger, a guy from work started talking about having an alien weapon to defend himself. That was just crap. He couldn’t stop himself from arguing. But the argument wouldn’t go anywhere, and he had to check on Kara. He counted to ten mentally and made his way to the office.   
  
Until he saw Scott with a huge pile of papers that looked familiar.   
  
“Scott? Did Snapper give you all of that?”   
  
“No, they’re Kara’s. She was really struggling with work, and it’s her first day. She’s so nice and cute.”   
  
“Oh, for the love of God.”   
  
It really wasn’t his day. He stomped into the office, and saw Kara sitting on the couch, eating candy.   
  
“What are you doing?”   
  
“Eating these red tubes, they’re amazing. Like, pure joy in food form.”   
  
He took the candy from her hand. “Kara, there’s a time and a place for eating candy.”   
  
“Yes, this time, and this place.”   
  
“No! This is a place of work. So when I give you a task, you should be the one to complete it, not Scott.”   
  
“He wanted to please me. On Daxam, when a man wishes to please a woman—“   
  
Ugh. Gross.   
  
“Just, wherever you’re going with that, just don’t. We’re not on Daxam, thank Rao.” He let out a deep breath. “It’ll be okay. You just have to do your work. That’s it.”   
  
Someone knocked on the door, which was weird to him. Not everyone knew he had an office. He hoped it wasn’t Cat.   
  
“Come in!”   
  
“Mon-El!” Lena Luthor came in, which was another surprise.   
  
“Lena! Surprise visit to CatCo?”   
  
“No, I’m here to see you, actually.”   
  
“You are?”   
  
She nodded. “L-Corp is hosting a party this weekend. It’s a gala fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital after that horrific attack on their new building. I was hoping you’d come.”   
  
“A gala?” Kara interrupted. “Is that like a party?”   
  
Oh no, she was going to mess up.   
  
“No, no. It’s not.”   
  
Lena continued. “You’re my only friend in National City. Most people wouldn’t touch a Luthor with a ten foot pole. It would mean a lot to me if you were there.”   
  
He felt sympathy at that. Lena wasn’t anything like her brother. “Of course I’ll come. I’m honored.”   
  
“I love parties.” Kara interrupted again. She was so persistent. “Can I come too?”   
  
“No.”   
  
“Of course your friend can come. What’s your name?”   
  
“Kara. Matthews.”   
  
“Well, Kara Matthews, find yourself a nice dress and I’ll see you there.” Lena turned around to leave.   
  
“Bye.”   
  
“See, Mon-El? We’re going to a party!”   
  
“I’m not even going to say anything.” His phone rang with a call from Alex. “Alex? Yeah, I’m on my way.”   
  
“What is it?”   
  
“I have to go. Alien weapons.”   
  
“Again?”   
  
“Yep. Do your job.”   
  
He flew to the place immediately, and it turned out the robbers had even more alien weapons. He couldn’t believe it.   
  
“Oh my God.”   
  
“You made it.” The guy aimed at him, but Valor disarmed him in a second.   
  
He wanted to keep fighting them, but they sent a police car into the sky. He had to save him. He followed after the car, freezing it with his breath, and got the policeman out safely. The robbers were already gone when he touched the ground.   
  
“Thank you, Valor.”   
  
“You’re welcome, officer.”   
  
Since there was nothing for him to do (frustratingly), he had to go back to CatCo. The day had truly been a whirlwind. Hopefully Kara was actually doing what he asked her to do, and not fooling around.   
  
To his annoyance, she wasn’t where he’d left her. He listened out for her steps.   
  
“Wait, I don’t have protection here.” A man panted.   
  
“You mean like a sword?”   
  
Mon-El’s eyes widened in horror. “No freaking way.”   
  
He quickly headed down to the source of the sound, and opened the door to find Kara kissing Scott, legs wrapped around his waist, dress halfway undone.   
  
“What are you two doing?”   
  
“Mon-El!” Scott jumped away from Kara. “This isn’t what it looks like.”   
  
“This is the definition of something looking like what it looks like. Just go, Scott.”   
  
Kara had a smirk on her face, as she zipped her dress up. “I think that I have more power on Earth than we realized. Do you think I could make any man fall instantly for me?”   
  
Apparently, she’d already made that happen, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. He was so angry.   
  
“No, you can’t! What were you thinking?!”   
  
“Well, I haven’t had sex in 35 years—“   
  
“You can’t do that here!”   
  
“Are you sure? ‘Cause I’ve been watching this TV show about doctors and I’m pretty sure it’s okay.”   
  
“No, it’s not! Thank Rao Ms. Grant isn’t here. You just have to fit in, and you keep messing it up!”   
  
“I’m trying hard to be human, Mon-El, but it’s not as easy as you make it sound. I’ve never done these... things you asked me to do before. I can’t learn in just a few hours. I’m used to doing my own thing.”   
  
“You don’t do your own thing here, you do my thing.”   
  
He started walking away, but Kara talked again. “Okay, and if I don’t want to do your thing?”   
  
“Then find another mentor.”   
  
Something flashed on Kara’s eyes, but he left her standing there, without another word to say.   
  
  
  
  


* * *

  


 

 

Kara couldn’t have denied that Mon-El’s words hurt. The _truth_ hurt. He was right, she was just a mess. She’d never done anything great in her life. Her mother had been right too, she was a “good for nothing”. All she had to do was fit in, and she couldn’t even complete that simple task. She ruined everything. Mon-El’s disappointed look replayed over and over again in her brain. That look made her heart shatter. It reminded her too much of Daxam. She had never been a good person, and to top it off, she left her people to die. But she’d thought that maybe on Earth she could start over, she could be better. Except she just was the same person she’d always been. Gar-Bel had been right when he told her that people didn’t really change.   
  
She felt so empty. As empty as she’d felt on her planet, and it stung. The void on her chest ached. She was very tempted to find anyone who could sell her an alien drug. She just wanted to forget for a while.   
  
But she’d promised herself to never touch a drug again, so that wasn’t an option. She had to find something else.   
Wiping her tears, she walked out of the bathroom and made her way to Scott’s desk.   
  
A small voice in her brain said that she couldn’t keep having sex just to avoid her pain. But she wouldn’t listen. She’d never listened to that voice. Avoiding the pain was better than letting herself feel it, raw and candid.   
  
“Hey, Scott.”   
  
“Kara! I was hoping you’d visit me.”   
  
She tried, and hopefully succeeded, to form a good smile. “What do you say we go somewhere else? Finish what we started?”   
  
He got up, offering his arm to her. She laced her own arm around it. “I absolutely agree, Kara.”   
  
It turned out that his apartment was only a few blocks away. As soon as they got to the elevator, she kissed him passionately, finally getting what she wanted. He fumbled to get the door open, and after that it was just madness. Clothes flew in every direction, while Kara kissed her way down his body. It was such a relief to finally touch someone, she’d been going crazy without contact since she arrived.   
  
But as she had sex with him, she imagined herself touching someone else’s body. She imagined someone else kissing her and making her his.   
  
That would never happen, unfortunately.   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


 

Mon-El stomped to his apartment, still reeling from his fight with Kara. He’d taken the long way home, in hopes to clear his head, but it hadn’t worked. He still couldn’t believe Kara had obliterated what he asked her to do and almost had sex instead. How very Daxamite of her. He’d tried not to judge her for her planet’s reputation, but she was proving to be exactly like them.  
  
When he reached the door, Alex was outside waiting for him, eating a donut. That only set alarms off in his head. There was something going on with her.   
  
“A donut? You never eat sugar in the middle of the day, what’s wrong?”   
  
“I’m kinda confused about something. But your steps were exceptionally stompy just now, are you alright?”   
  
With that, his anger resurfaced. “You won’t believe all the things that happened today. Kara is gonna get fired.”   
  
“Why?”   
  
“She doesn’t take her job seriously, at all. I asked her to organize some papers, and it was like she didn’t even hear what I said. It’s really like she’s never worked a day in her life.”   
  
“Well, she’s from a different planet.”   
  
“I’m from a different planet and I had to deal with the awkwardness of seventh grade when I got here!” He paced around the kitchen. “You know what she told me? That it’s only been a few hours! That she’s used to doing her own thing! She has everything she needs, and she’s still a disaster.”   
  
“Mon-El.” His sister was giving him the ‘I’m older so you have to listen to me’ look. “Sit down.”   
  
With a deep breath, he sat on the stool across from her.   
  
“When you first arrived at our house, I thought: finally, I have a brother.”   
  
“An alien brother. Whom you did not like at first.”   
  
“I know. But I still wanted you to be just like me. I dragged you out to science fairs.”   
  
“Those were so boring. It was like pre-historic Krypton.”   
  
“Made you watch scary movies.”   
  
“What do you have against a good old sci-fi movie?”   
  
“Forced you to listen to the music that I liked.”   
  
“Yeah, your punk-rock phase was very strange.”   
  
Alex rolled her eyes. “But I let it go. I let you do your own thing, find your own hobbies. Kara is kinda right, you know. It really has only been a few hours. Tell me, honestly, did you take time to walk her through her assignment?”   
  
That hit him like a bucket of cold water. “No... I guess I was too busy running in and out of the office, with this alien weapons thing going on.”   
  
“You can’t expect her to do something she’s never done so quickly, Mon-El. She has to learn.”   
  
“Oh, Rao.” Kara had been irresponsible, but he’d made a mess too.   
  
“Kara is not you. So what works for you, might not work for her. You know, people need to figure out what works for them, know they are inside. What they’re meant to be.”   
  
“You’re right.” It was then that he realized why Kara had given him that look. He had hurt her with his words. He felt guilty, all of the sudden. Why did he say she had to do his thing? “I’ll let her figure out what she wants to do.”   
  
“That’s it, little brother. It’ll be okay.” She hugged him.   
  
“I hope so.” He suddenly remembered that Alex had been acting weird. “I’m sorry! You wanted to talk to me about something and I haven’t shut my mouth. What is it?”   
  
“Well, I—“   
  
Before she could say anything, someone was at the door. With his x-ray vision, he saw who it was.   
  
“What is she doing here?” He opened the door. “Lena! Hi, come on in.”   
  
“I’m sorry to keep dropping in on you—“ The CEO stopped suddenly, looking at Alex. “Hey, I know you. You saved my life.”   
  
Alex smiled, extending her hand towards her. “Special Agent Alex Danvers.”   
  
“She’s my sister.”   
  
“Oh, the world’s smaller than I thought. Actually, maybe you can both help me.”   
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Remember how I told you about that stupid fight club last week? Now it’s my turn to ask for a favor.”   
  
“Anything.”   
  
“I need to get in contact with Valor.”   
  
He almost choked on air. “What?”   
  
Lena frowned. “Yeah, I need to talk to him about the gala, and I was hoping you could tell him.”   
  
“Uhm...” He looked at Alex, who nodded imperceptibly. “Sure, I’ll tell him to visit your office.”   
  
“Great! Thank you, Mon-El.” Lena smiled. “I’ll get going.”   
  
“Bye.”   
  
When the door closed behind her, Mon-El turned to his sister. “That’s bold of her, to keep the gala going with the looming threat of robbers with alien weapons.”   
  
“I’m sure nothing scares her easily. Are you leaving now?”   
  
“Nah, that’ll look too suspicious. I’ll go before midnight. Now, how about we watch a good action movie?”   
  
“You sure know how to make your sister happy.”   
  
  
  


* * *

  
  


 

 

 _“Princess Kara, why did you leave?”_ _  
_

 

With a jolt, she woke up from her sleep. She’d had another nightmare about Daxam, which wasn’t a surprise. But it was different from the previous ones. On the new nightmare, not only did she walk through the streets, barefoot, around debris and dead bodies. She also heard voices, asking her why she’d fled. It was certainly worse than the nightmares she’d had before.

  
Kara realized she wasn’t on her bed at the DEO. Rather, she was on a foreign bed, one arm circled around a man’s torso. Scott.   
She didn’t know what the protocol was for the morning after a one night stand on Earth. On her planet, her partners were already gone when she woke up, Gar-Bel made sure of that. Also, she didn’t know if it was because she’d spent 35 years in the Well of Stars, but sex felt... different. The high wasn’t as intense as before. She barely felt Scott’s touch on her skin. It was weird.   
  
But another round before she left wouldn’t hurt. She pulled herself closer to Scott, kissing the side of his neck and down to his shoulder. He stirred and turned to face her.   
  
“Good morning.” A smile appeared on his face.   
  
“Morning.”   
  
She pressed her lips against his, rolling over to be on top of him. He ran his hands up and down her thighs, until they reached her back, which made her freeze. “Don’t—“   
  
Thankfully, the ringing of his phone saved her from an awkward moment. She rolled off of him, as he gave her an apologetic look and answered it.   
  
“Uncle? Uh, I mean, boss?” He frowned. “I thought you said you didn’t need me today. Change of plans? Alright, I’ll be there shortly.”   
  
“What is it?”   
  
“Sorry, Kara. Uncle Snapper wants me to come into the office today.” He gave her a peck. “I have to get ready.”   
  
“Okay.” Thank Rao. “I have to... run some errands right now.” She got up and got dressed quickly.   
  
“I’ll see you later, then?”   
  
She highly doubted that. “Yeah. Bye, Scott.”   
  
He pulled her into him, giving her one last kiss. “Bye, Kara.”   
  
After she closed the door behind her and got as far away as possible, Kara let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding. That had been truly weird. At least, she didn’t have to explain the reason why the skin on her back was mostly scar tissue and also that she was so deeply impacted by it that she had never let anyone touch her there.   
  
Now that would’ve been awful.   
  
Shaking her head, she made her way back to the DEO. She had memorized the whole city on her first days, so that wasn’t a problem. The problem would be if she ran into J’onn and he started asking her why she hadn’t been there all night.   
And there was the gala! Her first party in forever (going out with Winn barely counted). She had to look her best, and she had no idea how to get a new dress.   


Thinking about the party made her remember the fight with Mon-El. And the pain was back in full force. She was a broken mess, and she’d lost almost all the hope to be fixed.  
  


 

When she got to the DEO, she acted nonchalant, but Alex caught her on the hallway to her dorms.  
  
“Look who decided to show up.” Alex crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow.   
  
“Alex! Heeeey.”   
  
“Out with it, where were you?”   
  
“Uh, that is to say—“   
  
“No, wait.” Alex stopped her. “I don’t want to know.”   
  
Kara sighed in relief. “Okay.”   
  
“Look, I’m not gonna tell J’onn or Mon-El, but you have to stay here for a while if you don’t want to get in trouble.”   
  
“How... long would I have to stay here?”   
  
Alex’s eyes widened. “Are you kidding?”   
  
She suddenly blushed. “It’s just that Mon-El and I got invited to a gala. And I have to pick a dress too.”   
  
After a moment of silence, Alex looked at her, as if deciding something. “Okay. I’ll help you with that. But just this once.”   
  
She gasped in disbelief. “Really?! Thank you, Alex! I almost want to kiss you right now!”   
  
Alex turned red, and stuttered. “I— I’m— don’t make me regret helping you.”   
  
“I won’t.”   
  
“Alright. Let’s go get you a nice dress.”   


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to add the gala, and Kara and Mon-El’s make up, but the chapter would’ve gotten veeery long, so I decided to split it. I’ll post it over the weekend.
> 
> X


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drops the chapter*
> 
> *runs back into the shadows*

Alex led her through a store, looking for the dress section. Kara was a bit curious about the concept of malls, since they existed on Daxam, but she never went to one. All of her clothes were provided to her at the palace. In retrospect, the only places her mother allowed her to go to were bars, clubs, and casinos. Sometimes, the beach. But that was it.    
She tried not to stay behind as she looked all around her, since Alex was being nice enough to buy her a dress. She didn’t want to be a burden.   
  
“So this is the dress section. Now, you’re going to a gala, so we want a nice dress, but we have to make sure it’s not too much since it’s not a masquerade gala. It has to be the right amount of simple and elegant.”   
  
Kara frowned as Alex started searching through the clothes. There was something going on, something weird. She was being too enthusiastic about finding a dress that wasn’t even for her. It seemed like the brunette woman was trying to forget something by pouring all of her attention on other things. She had to find out.   
  
“Here it is!” Alex held up a dress. “This one’s perfect! Try it on.”   
  
She walked to the dressing rooms and put it on. It was violet, she liked that color. And boy, her figure looked spectacular.    
  
“How do I look?” She twirled to show Alex.   
  
“Awesome! We’re taking it. Come on, let’s pay for it.”   
  
After they were done paying and left the store, Kara debated whether to ask Mon-El’s sister about what was bothering her. Would she even want her to ask? She was just a stranger, after all. But if she could be of any help, she would like to know. She was in Alex’s debt.   
  
“Alex?”   
  
“Uh, yeah?”   
  
“There’s something bothering you. Wanna talk about it?”   
  
Alex stopped dead on her tracks, looking at her with wide eyes. “How’d you know?”   
  
“I notice things not everyone can.”   
  
Alex looked around her, debating whether to tell her or not. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But you can’t tell anyone.”   
  
“I promise.”   
  
“Alright.” Her shoulders relaxed. “There’s this person that I like, or I guess I do. But I don’t know what to do, I mean this— it’s new to me. It’s weird. And what will my mom say? And Mon-El? I can’t just tell them—“   
  
She noticed Alex’s breathing was getting too fast, so she placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, Alex. Breathe. It’s okay. Why are you worried about telling them that you like someone?”   
  
“It’s not just someone.”   
  
“Do they hate that person?”   
  
“No, no.”   
  
“Then what is it?”   
  
Alex looked desperate. “It’s a girl, okay?!”   
  
Kara stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to figure out why she was worried about that. As far as she knew, it was great.    
  
Unless... oh Rao, she hated Earth.   
  
“Is it a bad thing here?”   
  
“N—No. But many people think it’s wrong and discriminate because of it. And I just don’t want to let anyone down.”   
  
Her heart broke. Grife, how could people be so cruel? “Listen, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you, okay? You aren’t letting anyone down. You can like whoever you want, whenever you want. You’re an amazing person, and if people can’t see that just because you like a girl... then they are ignorants, and they don’t deserve you. Know that you have a supporter in me, no matter what happens.”   
  
“Wow. Thank you, Kara.” Alex gave her a watery smile. “I thought you were just a thoughtless and selfish Daxamite, like Mon-El has said.”   
  
She felt a pang when she remembered her fight with Mon-El. “Ha. Maybe I am, but not when you clearly need someone to lean on. I’ll be there for you if you ever need it.”   
  
“Thanks, Kara. I’ll keep it in mind.”   
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When the time for the party came, Kara was excited, to say the least. She was back on her element. Partying, dancing, drinking. It felt like she was home.   
  
As soon as she got there, she started looking for Mon-El, but he hadn’t arrived yet. She wanted to apologize for being such an idiot, but her pride was getting the best of her. She didn’t know if the words would actually come out of her mouth. While she waited for him, she talked to some of the guests. The weird thing was that when someone suggested anything, she didn’t find herself interested. There was something else on her mind, but thinking about it was too scary.   
  
Her gaze finally fell on a tall man with broad shoulders and brown hair, talking to a worker. Mon-El. Smiling, she made her way towards him.   
  
“What’s your name, handsome?” As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she regretted them. He could take it the wrong way. When he turned around, she feigned disappointment. “Oh, it’s you. You gonna yell at me again?”   
  
He was carrying what was apparently food on his hands, and when he talked, his mouth was full. “I’mnotgonnayellatyouagain.”   
  
“What’s wrong with your mouth?”   
  
“I’m not gonna yell at you again.” He looked at her, and she couldn’t help the flush that thankfully didn’t reach her face. “Where’s the dress from?”   
  
“Oh, you like it?”   
  
“Yeah, it’s nice.”   
  
She considered telling him that Alex had bought it for her, but then the conversation about how or why would ensue. “Scott gave me his little, uh, plastic rectangle to buy things.”   
  
“You used his credit card?!”   
  
“You’re gonna yell at me again.”   
  
He took a deep breath. “I’m not gonna yell at you.”   
  
She looked at the band playing a song, and the people dancing around. “Ah, I miss dancing. We used to dance a lot on Daxam.”   
  
“Yeah, we danced on Krypton too.”   
  
The thought of dancing with him was so interesting that she put down the drink she’d been holding, and grabbed his hand. “Well, then...”   
  
His eyes widened. “Wait, hold on.” He placed the food on the table, cleaning his hands with a napkin.   
  
Then they danced, and her heartbeat increased exponentially. His hand was holding hers, his other hand on her back. His touch was like fire. She laughed as he twirled her around, but she could only think about what it would be like if they danced the traditional dances of their planets.   
  
Before she even had time to think about how it was weird that she was entertaining the idea, or enjoy the dance, an explosion happened. Mon-El jumped away from her, his Valor frown immediately in place.   
  
“Don’t do anything.”   
  
As if she had been planning to. She followed the people into hiding, careful to keep an eye on what was happening. The guy with the alien weapon wanted to steal everything, but Valor was there in a second. She watched as he used his heat vision to counter the beam coming from the gun, but then someone made him fall from sky.   
  
She had to help him. But that plan immediately backfired, as she was sent flying across the place by one of the guys. How great. Before she knew it, it was all over. Mon-El hadn’t been harmed.    
  
Kara got up from the floor, with a whole in the middle of her dress and smoke coming out of it. When she looked at Mon-El, he was breathing heavily, a smile of relief on his face.   
  
She couldn’t help but smile, too.   
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  
  


 

Mon-El woke up after a whole night of sleep, feeling refreshed. They had defeated the robbers, with Lena and Winn’s intellect. He was just glad that he hadn’t been blasted into oblivion. After that, he’d gone home, but he hadn’t forgotten that he still had to apologize to Kara. 

  
At the party, she had acted like nothing happened, but he knew he’d been rude. Looking at the time on his phone, he got up and dressed. Kara still needed a phone, so he got his old one out of the drawer. It didn’t have a plan, but they would get that later. All that mattered was being on good terms with her.   
  
When he got to the DEO, he headed straight to Kara’s quarters. He opened the door and saw her sleeping, but the sound of his footsteps was enough to make her open her eyes.   
  
She sighed, stretching her arms a bit. “Morning.”   
  
“Morning.”   
  
“I’m guessing you’re not picking me up to go to work?”   
  
“Oh, no.” He chuckled. “You were fired.”   
  
She smiled resignedly, sitting up in her bed and motioning for him to do the same. “I guess that wasn’t meant to be.”   
  
“Yeah, I guess so.” Mon-El looked at her seriously. “When I got here, I had no idea what I would do with my life. I had the Danvers to help me, but I ultimately had to choose my own path. And I tried to force you into that same path. I was just excited that I finally had someone to take under my wing, like I was supposed to do with my cousin. But... I shouldn’t have imposed things on you. I’m sorry for that.”   
  
Kara looked surprised, as if she would’ve never expected him to apologize. “No, you don’t have to say that. You tried to help me, and I messed up. If anything, I’m the one who’s sorry for... all that’s happened.”   
  
He gazed into her eyes, and the honesty she reflected in them was so raw that he almost wanted to look away. But he couldn’t, because those eyes were beautiful, blue and shining. They were unlike anything he’d ever seen. They were like—   
  
What the hell was he thinking?! He couldn’t dwell on that. Kara was just his friend.   
  
Clearing his throat, he finally spoke. “We both made mistakes. But hopefully, we’ll learn from them.”   
  
“Of course. Does this mean I still have to get a job?”   
  
“Absolutely.” He laughed a little at her pout. “Look, I got you something.”   
  
Mon-El put the box in her hands, and she gasped. “A phone? Mon-El, you didn’t have to.”   
  
“It’s my old phone, the version before the one I have now. I figured you needed it. You can use the DEO’s wifi.”   
  
“Thank you! But you seriously didn’t have to.” She beamed, and he couldn’t stop the warmth that spread on his chest.   
  
“You’re welcome. Now we can text and everything.”   
  
“Yeah. What about the app an agent was telling me about? Zin... Tinder?”   
  
His eyes widened. “Oh no, absolutely not. Let’s just... download the apps you really need.”   
  
“O-kay. Thank you again.” She grinned brightly. “You know what? I’ll look for a job, and we’ll meet at night at this alien bar Winn was telling me about.”   
  
He rolled his eyes, feigning annoyance. “Is the job just an excuse to go?”   
  
“A little bit. But still, what do you say? I promise it’ll be fun.”   
  
Mon-El tried to hide the smile that was forming on his face. “Alright. I’ll see you there.”   
  
“Yes!”   
  
“I have to go up and say hi to Alex.” He walked towards the door. “Good luck with finding a job, Kara.”   
  
“Yeah.  _ Nahjivehd _ to you too, Mon-El.”   
  
He stopped walking, his heart racing on his chest. Turning around, he gave her a shy wave.   
  
Mon-El could see the good in Kara, even if he’d doubted her at first.   
  
  
  
  



End file.
